


A Life Worth Living For

by Russgirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Pitch Black (2000), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Attempted Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Child Murder, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), M/M, Male Slash, Minor Character Death, Murder, Original Character Death(s), Past Child Abuse, Pregnancy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2018-12-02 16:31:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11513169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Russgirl/pseuds/Russgirl
Summary: Also available on Fanfiction.net; although this version is being edited to better fit my current writing style.  Harry Potter is left for dead by his relatives in the Canadian wilderness, only for his magic to find a way for him to survive.  Changed and afraid, Harry was taken in by Logan who adamantly believed the situation to be temporary.  The Wizarding World is not so willing to let their savior go however and in true 'Greater Good' fashion go about finding their missing savior.  (Once they realize that he is missing of course.)  Will Harry ever get his happy life; his life worth living?





	1. No Risk, No Reward

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series (property of J.K. Rowling), the X-Men comics, movies, or other media (property of Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox), the Pitch Black/Riddick franchise (property of Universal Pictures now) or any other recognized media/characters in this story. Original characters and ideas are mine and I would only ask that you ask if you wish to use any specific character or idea.

Background Information

Humans can have three possible traits that are determined by two genes, called the X-gene and the M-gene. The X-gene is responsible for the recessive-linked trait of mutation, which results in mutants. Those that have both recessive alleles are mutants, those that have heterozygous alleles have a slight ability, while those that have both dominant alleles do not have any mutant ability.

EX: XX Xx xx genotype  
normal slight ability mutant phenotype

The M-gene is responsible for the recessive-linked trait of magic, which results in witches and wizards. Those that have one recessive M allele and one dominant allele (heterozygous) may have a single magical ability, such as natural mind shields or being a seer.

EX: MM Mm mm genotype  
normal single ability magic phenotype

However, for unknown reasons the two genes cannot both be active (have the recessive genotype) in a single individual. Studies show that in 95% of cases fetuses that have both the active X-gene and the active M-gene spontaneously abort within the first trimester or miscarry before viability. The five percent of fetuses that did not abort/miscarry were severely deformed upon birth and died within 24 hours. Another study showed those fetuses that had one active gene and the other heterozygous showed delayed growth. Upon birth, these children caught illnesses more easily and showed delayed development. As the study continued, some of the children died due to a compromised immune system (active X-gene) or an autoimmune disorder (active M-gene); to combat this problem some children underwent gene therapy to “turn off” the active gene. Unfortunately, all attempts in those children with active M-gene to “turn off” the gene resulted in death as their magic viciously resisted the gene therapy; whereas, those children with an active X-gene could successfully undergo therapy, but their immune system was so compromised that many contracted illnesses and died. Considering the disastrous results of the gene therapy for the previously discussed study, no other attempts at gene therapy have been made.

Chapter One: No Risk, No Reward

Six-year old Harry Potter stared at the fluffy clouds outside the small rectangular window in amazement, never before had he seen something so soft. The nice woman that walked along the aisle telling him to buckle up before giving him a cookie diverted Harry’s attention. Later, when Harry met back up with the Dursleys upon exiting the sky bridge, he made sure to hide the cookie deep within his pocket. A curt word was issued before Harry was following along his family towards the large belt that carried the bags around for passengers to collect. Soon Harry was dragging along his ratty backpack and Dudley’s newer backpack as he followed the Dursleys out to the parking garage floor that contained the rental cars. After minimal paperwork, the reluctant family of four was in a car driving to the hotel. The hotel was close to a nice shopping district and not far from the company, that Vernon was doing business with as a representative of Grunnings. 

The hotel was nice and the suite that Grunnings was paying for was spacious, containing a living area/kitchenette, two bathrooms, bedroom with a king-size bed, and a bedroom with two single beds. Of course, Harry was not allowed to sleep in one of the single beds as the family did not want to take the chance that he would contaminate their Dudley. Instead, he was told to sleep in the corner of the living area where there was a small pocket of space between one of the sofas and the armchair. Although on holiday for Vernon’s work, Harry still had chores to do. These included cooking the meals, picking up so the normal people did not get more work than needed, and carrying the bags when Petunia took Dudley out shopping. Three days passed in this way, before things took a horrific turn.

A slurred curse and a loud thump woke Harry from his sleep. Peeking out from the space between the sofa and armchair, Harry saw a large dark shape next to a lower dark shape. The identity of the large dark shape became clear as a loud “Boy!” came from that direction. Harry quickly scrambled out of his corner and over to the wall to turn on the lights before approaching his still cursing uncle. There was no warning before little Harry was sprawled across the floor from a hard hit to the side of the head. Through his shock and the ringing in his ears, Harry vaguely heard his uncle mention losing a deal. Vernon wasted no time in starting to rain down punches onto his fallen nephew, muttering of Harry’s wrongdoings as he went, until a loud gasp issued from behind him. Looking behind him, Vernon saw Petunia with wide fear-filled eyes and a small, bony hand covering her mouth.

“Vernon, how will we explain this to the management?! The boy is bleeding into the carpet and people are definitely going to notice all the bruises and whatnot on his body, fix this,” Petunia said in a low hiss. There was no love or worry in her eyes as she quickly categorized the cleaning products that she would need to remove the blood surrounding her nephew’s still form. 

“Of course Pet, just gather all the freak’s things and I’ll go drop him off where no one will find him. We will just tell everyone that the ungrateful brat ran away and no one will be the wiser,” Vernon said soothingly, his eyes gleaming at the prospect of getting rid of his nephew. Petunia gave a curt nod before quickly going around the room collecting any object that could be associated with Harry’s presence in the room. Within no time at all, Harry was wrapped up in a spare blanket and all of his things or anything that could be associated with him was packed into his ratty backpack. Petunia took one last look around the room, scanning for any items that she missed, before shooing Vernon out the door with their nephew clutched in his beefy arms. Vernon drove down the unfamiliar roads in silence as he looked for a suitably out-of-the-way place to dump the little freak. Soon enough he found a perfect road that seemed rarely traveled and pulled over to the side. A low rumble and rough hands were what Harry became aware of as the pain receded temporarily to leave the thought of how angry Aunt Petunia will be if he bleeds into the hotel carpet. Sharp pain raced through Harry’s body as Vernon dropped him hard onto an uneven, cold surface before a heavy, lumpy item was dropped on top of him. The last thing Harry remembered before falling back into darkness was a muttered “Good riddance.”

It is said that the human body can manage unimaginable feats in order to survive, even on the brink of death. However, a human body that already harnessed an extraordinary power can do the impossible to survive, and doing the impossible is what made Harry Potter famous. The damage done to the small body was too extensive for him to heal naturally, so little Harry’s magic went inward to seek a method of fast healing. Searching, the magic found a gene that when activated would give Harry new powers, one of which was the ability to heal quickly enough to prevent death. However, activating the gene would kill him instantly. Nevertheless, the magic continued to search out the gene in every cell and activated it. Then, before the gene activation registered, Harry’s magic retreated into its own gene, effectively turning itself off. Quickly all the damage done to his body was starting to heal itself, made known to an observer by the healthy flush to Harry’s cheek and the disappearance of color from bruises.

Driving at night was not his most favored activity, but Logan could not avoid it if he wanted to stay on the move. He made a habit of staying on back roads as to avoid running into any more people than necessary. As he was driving down the dark road that was bordered by a thick lining of trees, he saw a car pull off to the side of the road and a heavy-set man toss a bundle to the ground beside the road. Logan caught site of what looked like hair peeking out of one end of the bundle, but shook it off as he passed them. Thirty minutes later, Logan’s mind kept making him think of the possibilities that shock of hair could mean until he turned around with an agitated growl. Arriving back at the spot the bundle was dropped, he pulled over and began to search. Finding the bundle, Logan unwrapped the blanket to find a small boy covered in blood, but otherwise unharmed. Next to the boy was a ratty backpack that when opened showed some large clothes, a couple books missing their covers, some notebooks with ripped out pages, a few broken crayons/pencils, and a ratty baby blanket. A deep growl rose in Logan’s chest as he gathered the boy and his things before going back to his truck.

Harry opened his eyes when the light became too bright behind his lids to continue to ignore. Shooting upright Harry’s mind replayed the happenings of the previous night. Looking around fearfully, Harry found himself in a wooded area with a truck parked nearby. Trembling slightly from fear, the sound of leaves rustling alerted Harry to a tall man coming from the woods. In the man’s hands was a pair of rabbits and two small fish. Feeling warm and shy, Harry looked down to notice he was wrapped in a blanket that he recognized from the hotel and a thick coat. The tall man approached before sitting before a pit lined with rocks where he started a fire. Curiosity caused Harry to move closer where he saw the man take a knife from his pocket and start to cut the fur from the rabbits. Harry startled when the man turned towards him and motioned for him to come closer. Harry shuffled closer, eyes wide, where he was more easily able to see the man skin the rabbits. The two rabbits and fish were skewered with a blackened stick before being placed over the fire.

“So, what’s your name kid?” Logan asked in a gruff voice as he looked over to the small boy sitting next to him. The little one was rather tiny and extremely too skittish for Logan’s comfort level, but considering where he was found it took little imagination to understand why.

“My name is Harry, are you gonna take me back to Uncle Vernon?” Harry asked softly as he looked at the man with desperate hope he said no. 

“Nah, you’re stuck with me kid,” Logan said, noticing the pure joy in the little boy’s emerald eyes, “how old are you anyway?”

“I’m six, what’s your name?” Harry asked curiously, not noticing the shock caused from his response.

“Logan,” was the short reply before Logan started to show Harry how the meat must be turned to assure even cooking. At one point as Logan allowed Harry to scrape any excess meat off the rabbit furs, Harry cried out before staring at his finger when the cut immediately closed. Looking up, Harry caught Logan’s gaze resting on his healed finger. Cringing away as Logan lifted his hand, Harry dropped his head in fear and shame. With a heavy sigh, Logan stared sadly at the top of Harry’s head as he put the pieces together behind the mystery of Harry’s past.

“Harry, do you know why that happened?” Logan asked while Harry tightened into a ball before minutely shaking his head, “You are a mutant Harry, I’m a mutant too.” Harry lifted his head at that and watched as three metal claws came from each hand, situated between the knuckles of his fingers. With conformation that he was not a freak or alone any more, Harry started to cry. Logan retracted his claws before lifting Harry into his lap and continued to turn the meat; soon the meat was cooked through. Looking down at Harry’s face he saw that the little one was asleep, so Logan gently shook him until those dazzling green eyes opened. Harry sat still on Logan’s lap as the meat was set on a nearby plate and cut with another knife into strips. After they finished eating, during which Logan noticed the small amount Harry was able to consume, they fell asleep on a blanket kept next to the fire.

They stayed at that camp for a week before Logan packed them up and started to drive again. Harry sat in the passenger seat picking at the white fur that lined the pieced together shirt Logan had made for him. It had been a couple days after Harry had awaken that he asked about clothes, to which Logan replied he was going to re-stitch them to fit better. Now Harry had better fitting clothes, a few shirts with linings of rabbit fur, and a few pairs of pants with rabbit fur on the legs. Logan even made a rabbit fur coat with the inside having three linings of fabric from the hotel blanket and the extra fabric from the clothes. As for shoes and underwear, Logan had said that when they hit the next town he was going to buy them. That was what they were doing now, heading to the nearest town.

Reaching the town, Logan drove around until he spotted a retail store. It did not take long for them to grab a pack of underwear, socks, and Logan also grabbed a hat, gloves, and scarf. The clerk watched them and cooed at Harry stating that he was such a sweet little boy. Leaving Logan drove around some more until he saw a shoe store and pulled into a parking space. Logan got out the truck and walked to the passenger side to get Harry out, who he decided to carry to move faster. Walking into the store, he looked around to spot a clerk to help them and saw a young woman in a blue swirl shirt. The young woman did not immediately come forward but instead watching the two walk through the children’s footwear aisle. Logan felt irritated as he walked through the aisle looking at the colorful shoes and rows of boxes until Harry tugged on his collar before pointed to a box on his right at eye level. Taking the box down and sitting on a nearby bench with Harry in his lap, he took a look inside the box. Inside was a small pair of boots that were primarily brown, quite close in color to his clothes, with design in white that ended in a Siberian tiger face on the heel. Soft footsteps approached before a blue swirl shirt came into his peripheral line of sight.

“Do you need any help? Perhaps I can check your son’s shoe size?” a high pitched, slightly accented voice asked. Within the hour, they left the shop with the boots in Harry’s size and looked for a place that rented rooms.


	2. Losing a Savior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish to be very clear on the issue of the two genes, X-gene and M-gene. Where I was going with that information is that it is my take on how to explain the presence of the three types of people within the same universe, and why there cannot be a person that is both a mutant and wizard/witch. No, Harry will not be switching back and forth between magical ability and mutant ability, he is a mutant.

Chapter 2: Losing a Savior

The morning was characterized by the loud bustle of students and the soft grumbles of teachers. Twinkling eyes surveyed the array of students as they ate or studied, and in some cases slept at the breakfast table. An hour or so later found Albus Dumbledore’s twinkle lessening as he entered to find one of his magical instruments completely still. Alarmed, Dumbledore studied the instrument a moment before moving to his bookshelf for the magical tome filled with every magical student that will attend Hogwarts. Quickly he moved to the first years listed for 1991 and scanned for the last name Potter, it was not found. Panic started to ensue until he noticed from the corner of his eye that another of the magical instruments was pulsing steadily. With a sigh of relief mixed with bafflement, Dumbledore sat back in his chair to work out what could be happening. 

A heavy scowl was firmly in place on his face as Severus Snape stood in the corner of the room watching the staff and previous order members settle into chairs murmuring their complaint. Lupin sat in a chair near the door looking tired and wary, while Minerva McGonagall had a slight frown in place. No one was quite sure why he or she had been called into Hogwarts, as there was nothing they could think of that would link them all or require all of their assistance. Soon, however, Dumbledore walked through the door with several objects floating behind him and a slight frown on his face. Setting them down, the group could see a globe-like object that was emitting a pulse of light in a rhythmic fashion, a small miniature house that seemed quite ordinary, a golden snitch whirligig with the wings completely still, and a large tome that listed names.

“These objects are all linked to one Harry Potter,” Dumbledore said, lifting his hand when the expected outbursts started, “the snitch wings are charmed to rotate in response to Harry’s magical signature, and the pulsing globe is linked to Harry’s heartbeat.”

“But Headmaster, how is it possible that the globe is pulsing but the snitch wings are still?” Lupin asked anxiously. This question intrigued them all as it was well known that when a magical person lost their magic they died. The fact that the snitch whirligig was still but the globe was pulsing was a mystery, however hope blossomed that perhaps the charm wore off. The puzzlement however greatened at the next statement by Dumbledore.

“Alas I do not know, at first I hoped that the charm had worn off, but then I looked Harry up in the book of students and his name was not listed,” Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh, “Combining that with the absence of the bubble that was indicative of the wards surrounding the house and we have a mystery.” The others looked at the miniature house that they now realized represented the house that Harry Potter was supposed to be living in; they wondered what could have happened to the boy. 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Logan woke up with a start as flashes of memory too quick to catch faded from his consciousness. Looking to the side of him, he saw the curled up figure of the boy that had been traveling with him for a little under two years. The light was just starting to filter through the blinds of the small motel room that he had rented for them, indicating that it was still early. Giving a sigh, Logan sat up before carefully shifting his legs over the side of the bed. A low growl of annoyance rumbled through Logan’s chest as he tried to remember the fleeting flashes of memory from his nightmare. Heaving off the bed, Logan crossed the room to a small table where a large duffel bag sat. Inside the duffel bag clothes both for him and for Harry lay, not to mention fighting knives for Harry to defend himself and personal items. After grabbing some pants and a muscle shirt, he headed for a quick shower pondering how they had spent two years together. 

Flashback

Finding a place that would take in a mutant child was no easy task, but it would be better to find a stable home for Harry, at least that was Logan’s explanation for his searching. The kid had not been too talkative except to ask for reassurance that Logan was not going to take him back to his Uncle Vernon, not that Logan knew who that was. After traveling for a week or two looking at small towns and cities alike, he was no closer to finding a suitable place for Harry. It was not as if he was not trying, it was just with the kid’s background he needed a loving environment, like a home. Logan did not look at any of the orphanages that they passed and none of the loving couples around seemed accepting of strange things that the kid would no doubt do being a mutant. Stopping at the town that Logan was searching in now, he looked for a room for the night. The old innkeeper looked suspiciously over his glasses when Logan asked about couples looking to adopt, but other than that, no problems ensued. Sleep came relatively early for Logan as the soft sound of breathing from Harry lulled Logan into a sense of tranquility. That tranquility was shattered when the sound of someone picking the lock on the door registered in Logan’s mind. Two men dressed in dark colors moved past Logan’s bed and up to Harry’s side before carefully shining a light on his exposed back. One of the two men drew a knife and shallowly sliced into Harry’s back, watching as the cut closed back up. Harry woke and cried out as the other man made a grab for him until Logan stuck his claws into the man’s back. After, both men were down Logan gathered their things and left the room through the window seeing a black van parked near the entrance of the inn. Quickly climbing into the truck and driving away, Logan figured he would wait until the kid could defend himself against mutant experimenters before foisting him onto a family.

End Flashback

Now two years later, Logan still did not feel comfortable leaving the kid with a family. Allowing the water to run down his face and the heat to soak into his body, Logan pondered why that was. However, after thinking on it for a minute or two, Logan decided not to worry about it. Eventually he would tire of the kid and then he would find the kid a family. After all, he was most definitely not ‘daddy’ material and all boys needed a father, right? Turning the water off, Logan stepped out into the slightly steamy room before toweling off and changing into his clothes. Leaving the bathroom, Logan was not surprised to see Harry sitting up in bed with his messy hair hanging down to his shoulder blades. 

“Go take a shower kid,” Logan said in his gruff voice. 

“Okay, um will we practice fighting today?” came the soft reply as Harry did not speak loudly even after two years. A curt nod was all he was given as Harry scrambled from the bed to the bathroom. Logan riffled through the duffel bag to pull out the toy truck he had won Harry at some fair the boy had asked to be taken to, his large art set that Logan had bought after seeing the boy eyeing it in a store, and his 1000-page sketchpad. These he set on the table beside the duffel bag before pulling out his keys and leaving to get some food. When Harry reentered the bedroom, he noticed Logan was gone but also noticed the jacket lying across the chair and the duffel bag sitting on the table indicating that Logan was returning. Sitting in the chair, Harry picked up his sketchbook and started to draw a dog he had seen on the sidewalk in one of the other towns they visited. Harry was always a meticulous drawer, drawing detail in his sketches making it seem quite real. A noise caused Harry to look up and see a man dressed in black appear in the parking lot from thin air. ‘Mutant’ immediately came to mind and Harry quietly set his sketchpad down and retrieved his knives from the bed. With practiced silence, Harry slid away from the table and moved under one of the beds to hide until Logan returned.

Severus Snape was not a happy man. He and Lupin had been paired together for the last two years to search for the blasted Potter brat. Now they felt they had a lead and had to apparate from one of the Canadian cities to some god-forsaken rundown motel in the middle of nowhere. The charm they were using could help them get within a five-mile radius of Potter’s location but not any closer as there was no magical signature to base it specifically on. Frankly as far as Severus was concerned, even if Potter was alive, without a magical signature the boy was a squib and therefore useless to their world. ‘Not that he was not useless before’ Severus thought with a sneer. Lupin soon appeared with a crack next to him and looked around the area. Seeing that there was nothing else around, Lupin smiled and started towards the motel. Entering a doorway that had an old, barely legible sign that stated ‘Office’, Lupin immediately walked toward the older lady sitting behind the counter.

“Excuse me ma’am, have you seen a boy about eight years old with dark messy hair and vibrant green eyes lately?” Remus asked in a hopeful manner. The woman looked up from a book she was reading to study Remus and Severus as if trying to determine their intentions.

“Yes, there’s a boy by that description here. He and his father arrived a day or two ago in a truck. He’s a polite boy and his father is so very protective,” the woman said.

“His father, ma’am?” Remus asked bewildered, knowing that Harry Potter did not have any living parents.

“Yes, a gruff, wild man by the looks of him. Hardly spoke a word except to ask for a room and tell the boy to finish the burger he had been eating when they entered. It was obvious the boy did not eat enough and the man seemed slightly concerned by it, not that just anyone would notice that,” the woman told with a smile on her face in remembrance. 

“What room are they in?” Severus said curtly, wishing to leave as soon as possible.

“They are in room 121, which is about five or six rooms down from here. I would be careful wanting to talk to them though, the man does not seem a people person and the boy is quite skittish,” the woman told them before dismissing them to turn back to her book.

Normally, Remus would take the advice of a kind older woman such as the motel caretaker but there was a possibility that Harry was behind the door they were standing outside of. With a quick glance around Remus retrieved his wand and muttered the unlocking spell, before opening the door and walking swiftly in the room behind Severus. Shutting the door behind them, the two men noticed that there was a duffel bag sitting open on a table along with a toy truck, some sort of book, and art supplies. Both beds were still unmade and the door opposite them stood slightly open. Moving farther into the room, the two men looked at the nearly finished picture of a dog. Remus’ eyes widened at the detail in the dog, it seemed as if you could see the hairs that made up the coat, and the pattern of the coat was very realistic. Unsure as to whether Harry and the mysterious man being identified as his father was out or if Harry might still be in the room, the men stayed by the table and spoke in low voices. Their conversation was interrupted, however by a dangerous feral man bursting into the room with a paper bag in his hand.

“Who are you two?” Logan asked in a throaty growl that reverberated in the space between them.

“We are looking for Harry Potter,” Severus said with a sneer and obvious dislike.

“What for bub?” Logan asked walking across the room, seemingly unfazed, to set the paper bag down on the table. Neither Severus nor Remus seemed inclined to answer the man and Logan did not seem inclined to give any information to the men. “Kid, come eat,” Logan said in his gruff voice that both men noticed was a lot softer than the voice used to address them.

“Those men appeared out of nowhere,” said a soft voice from under the bed before a boy with long messy dark hair and green eyes appeared holding two long knives in his hands. 

“Harry? Harry is that you?” Remus said with awe and sadness mixing in his tone.

“You mutants? Cause I’ll tell you now that we don’t know why the kid’s powers manifested so early and there is no way you’re experimenting on him to find out,” Logan said with distrust, dislike, and suspicion coating his words. 

“Mutants? No, we aren’t mutants, are you?” Remus asked in bafflement.

“Yeah, me and the kid. Figure that’s why he was dropped off to die by his uncle,” Logan said with a small shrug, “but if you know the kid and appeared out of nowhere than what are you?” 

“We are wizards, Mister…” Severus began.

“Logan,” came the curt reply.

“Well, we are wizards Mr. Logan,” Severus restated.

“No, no mister, just Logan,” Logan said in annoyance.

“Ah, well Logan, we come from a race of humans that can control energy and manipulate it. We call this ability magic. Harry’s parents were magical and he was magical,” Severus said tapering off at the end with something akin to curiosity in his dark eyes.

“Was magical? Why am I no longer magical, not that I’m complaining, being a mutant is cool too,” Harry said softly with slight curiosity mixed with apprehension. 

“Well we aren’t sure why you are not magical anymore Harry, but about two years ago your magical signature vanished. Normally that results in death, but you are still alive and apparently a mutant. What are your abilities anyway?” Remus asked curiously. Mutants were known in the wizard world but some had abilities that scared the average wizard and so they avoided mutants at all costs.

“He can heal from anything, same as me. Nothing else so far,” Logan replied still untrusting of the two strange men.

“Well, would you allow us to call a friend of ours to tell them about us finding Harry? We have all been worried about him,” Remus asked.

“Sure bub,” Logan replied glancing towards the table quickly to check Harry ate all his food. Logan watched as the two men disappeared from the room as if they were never there, before telling Harry to pack his things. Within a few minutes of the men leaving, Logan had checked them out and was packing their things away into the truck. Once Harry climbed in, Logan started out of the parking lot and drove away determined to not stay in one place for so long again.


	3. Traveling and Discovering New Powers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks is a real book that was written in 1980 for children, and it was turned into a movie. I do not own it, the book or the movie, and have no rights to it.

Chapter Three: Traveling and Discovering New Powers

Logan gripped the steering wheel tight as he focused on the road they had been traveling for the last thirty minutes. It had been a few hours since the so-called wizards showed up in their motel room looking for Harry. Harry seemed accepting of them, telling him that the polite blonde-haired person reminded him of someone from his past. He had just grunted in return and pressed a bit harder on the gas pedal. Logan glanced out of the corner of his eyes to see that Harry was reading one of the books that he had with him two years ago, The Indian in the Cupboard. Being cooped up in the truck was starting to make Logan antsy, so he found an old dirt road they had been on before that led to an abandoned cabin. Turning down the dirt road, they drove through the thick foliage for about five miles until they reached the old, weed-infested cabin. Parking to the right of the road, they got out of the truck and brought their things into the cabin where Harry immediately grabbed his sketchbook and started to finish his drawing out on the porch area. Logan gave him a glance as he passed to gather firewood for the stone fireplace, since he planned to stay the night at least. 

Harry hummed as he drew making sure to use different colors and mixing to indicate where the coat of the dog shifted from the overall auburn to the dark brown of the patches. The soft tissue of the inner ear was a light peach color and the nose showed blackish with white highlights to indicate its dampness. One main patch of dark brown showed on his back and the tip of his tail and ears were dark brown as well. Looking closely, one would see the tiny nails of the dog and his bright blue eyes shining out from under his auburn brows. The dog’s left ear was droopy at the tip whereas his right was alert and the little of his belly that could be seen showed light auburn. Not long after Logan had left to get fire wood, Harry finished his drawing and cried out in shock as the picture started to glow, throwing his sketchbook away in the process. 

Hearing a cry in the direction of the cabin, Logan ran towards the cabin with his claws out. The thought that the crazies calling themselves wizards were back or someone else found them crossed his mind, until he cleared the tree line and saw glowing coming from the ground not far from Harry. Dropping the wood he had still been gripping, Logan crossed over to Harry giving the glowing thing a wide berth. Harry latched onto him quickly, causing Logan to sheath his claws, muttering incomprehensibly about his sketchbook and dogs. Quickly the glow took form and then started to recede to leave a dog. Logan blinked a couple times thinking that it was a trick of his mind or the glow had caused a hallucination or something, but there was still a dog sitting next to what Logan could see was Harry’s sketchbook. Cautiously approaching the dog, Logan reached down for the sketchbook only to stop mid-action. There, on the page of the open sketchbook, was a drawing of the dog that was now sitting only a foot or so away. ‘Well looks like the kid has more than one ability’ Logan thought as he sighed before picking up the sketchbook. 

“Well kid, looks like you drawing came to life,” Logan said with a wave in the dog’s direction, ignoring how crazy that made him sound. Harry peeked up at him from beneath the fringe of his bangs before turning his head to look at the dog then his sketchbook. 

“Really, can I keep him?” Harry asked in an excited voice seeming to take it at face value that his drawing would just come to life. Logan raised an eyebrow and knelt down on his haunches before grabbing the dog by the scruff of its neck to look it over. Surprisingly the dog looked and felt completely real, like it had always been a living breathing dog. 

“How do you know it’s male?” Logan asked gruffly lifting the dog up to check its sex.

“Cause I was drawing a boy dog,” Harry states in complete confidence with a bit of undertone making Logan feel like he should have known that. Logan eyed Harry for a while, secretly pleased with Harry opening up, before seeing that it was indeed a boy dog. Humming as he let the dog go, Logan turned to look Harry in the eye.

“Alright kid, look, you can keep the dog but don’t draw anything else unless I know what it is and am there with you,” Logan said seriously, wanting Harry to understand that this was dangerous. Harry nodded quickly before scooping up the dog that must have been close to half his weight and hugging it firmly. Logan stood, moving to gather the wood that he had dropped at the tree line when he had rushed back; he carried the wood into the cabin and started a fire. After assuring the fire was going and telling Harry to enter the cabin with his ‘dog’, he went to catch them some food. Returning from his hunting trip, Logan cooked the meet in the fireplace before cutting up some for Harry and setting some aside for Harry’s dog. 

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Remus and Severus arrived back in the hotel room they had rented to contact the others using the floo network, the hotel was owned by a magical person. After finding the special silver powder used for international floo networks, Severus called out ‘Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’ with a slight sneer before sticking his head into the fire. Remus sat on the nearby couch pondering what was learned about Harry. With a heavy sigh, Remus dropped his head into his hands as he waited for Severus to finish updating the headmaster about their discoveries. Therefore, he jumped when the headmaster came through the floo. Dumbledore looked around the room as if expecting Harry to just pop out from behind one of the objects, until he sighed and sat in a nearby armchair. Motioning for Severus to sit down also, Dumbledore fumbled with his pocket before offering them the customary lemon drops.

“Well my boys, it is good news indeed that young Harry is alive and well. It is quite shocking that he has somehow turned into a mutant, however. The mutant that you said is taking care of him, what was it you said the dear lad’s name was?” Dumbledore asked curiously.

“Logan, not sure if it’s a first name or surname, but it is all he gave us,” Severus said with a sneer.

“Yes and he reminded me of a werewolf, he had the same feral feel. However, I did notice that he was good for Harry and seemed to care for him,” Remus said a little sullenly. Remus did not care much for Harry calling another man father, although it did not seem Harry called Logan that, but still Harry should only consider James Potter to be his father. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled a bit at the tone, happy that Remus showed such loyalty to his friend’s memory. 

“Hmm, perhaps we should return to them. I must say that it is disconcerting to find out that Harry’s magic disappeared to leave mutant abilities. Do you have any theories as to what happened?” Dumbledore asked them as he stood from the armchair. 

“I believe Albus, from what little I was able to get from Logan and Harry’s minds and words that his magic brought out the mutant abilities before destroying itself,” Severus said, shifting uncomfortably when all attention was brought back to him, “From what I can tell, Harry’s magic did this because of some life threatening situation.”

“Hmm, Severus perhaps you would floo back to Scotland and track down the Dursleys for questioning. I am still unsure how Harry ended up left in Canada in the first place,” Dumbledore said in a thoughtful manner. 

Severus left through the floo as Remus was allowing Albus into his mind to get the location of the motel where Logan and Harry were staying. With two cracks, Albus and Remus appeared in the parking lot of the motel and approached the door that Remus indicated. Upon reaching the door, Remus gave three loud knocks before waiting. Frowning when there was not a response, he considered just unlocking the door as he did previously. “You just missed them, checked out not even an hour ago,” came the voice of the women that ran the office.

“They checked out, but we were supposed to meet,” Remus said flabbergasted that the duo would just leave knowing that they would return.

“The man came in not long after you two did, probably ten or fifteen minutes later actually. He handed in his key and said that his son was getting antsy and wanted to move on, he looked a bit uncomfortable actually. Not that just anyone would notice that, you know. The boy was standing slightly behind his father and tugged on the hem of his jacket to get his attention when he pointed towards a bowl of candy I had set out. Such a cute one, that boy, the man just gave a grunt and that little boy lit up like a Christmas tree I tell ya-”

“Did they say where they were going dear lady?” Dumbledore interrupted before the woman could continue her narrative.

“No, they didn’t say but the man sure looked relieved when I told him we were all through,” the woman answered shortly, quite annoyed with being rudely interrupted.

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For two months Logan and Harry traveled staying nowhere for longer than a night. It turned out that Harry’s new power was not limitless, only animals would be created from his drawings and so far any animal he made that had not already existed or were magical* would die within an hour of forming. Logan allowed Harry to draw animals but so far, none of the others had been kept, instead they were released into the wild. The dog was lovingly called Mars, because it had this nasty habit of attacking things at any given time, which led to it nearly drowning when Logan took the dog fishing with him. As time passed, it became clearer that Mars was an actual dog and not something that resembled a dog, although the dog did seem to be unnaturally smart. Logan sighed as he pulled his truck to the side of the dirt road and turned the engine off. They always ended up back at this cabin, no matter how far away from it they traveled. Harry seemed to love the cabin, and even tried to clean it up whenever they stayed there. Turning towards the passenger seat where Harry was curled up asleep, Logan pondered staying here a while. 

Setting Harry on his coat that he laid out on the floor before the fireplace that still had some wood next to it from their last visit, Logan started a fire before leaving to gather more supplies. It was on a hard, scratchy surface that Harry woke up before looking around to see that he was in the cabin. Seeing the makeshift broom that he had put together from an earlier visit, Harry started to sweep the dust out the door, ultimately stirring it up and causing a sneezing fit. Mars huffed and padded out of the room, deciding to stay away from the dust clouds Harry was creating. However, when Mars started to growl, Harry stopped his sweeping to see three men standing on the porch. Two of them Harry recognized as the wizards from the motel.

“Hello Harry, my name is Albus Dumbledore and I am sure you recognize my companions, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape,” Dumbledore said cheerfully.

“Hello,” Harry said shyly as he started to step back away from the three men. Not watching where he was going, Harry tripped over a piece of wood and fell backwards. Using his hands to brace himself, Harry yelped as he collided hard with the floor. Mars continued to growl at the three men even going as far as to attack them when they stepped forward to help Harry. When the dirty blond haired man pointed a stick at Mars and muttered something that ended in a flash of color and Mars falling hard onto the ground, Harry started to yell at the men. His eyes started to glow as the different vines and weeds around the house seemed to grow and creep towards the three men, wrapping them up in tight binds. This was the scene that Logan returned to, Harry sitting next to a motionless Mars with the two crazies and some old cross-dresser wrapped up in vines. Raising an eyebrow at the strange situation, Logan smirked and said, “What did I miss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The reason magical animals that Harry draws don’t come to life is because they are still imaginary to Harry. He does not remember the magical world so he is drawing them from his imagination and does not have the correct grasp of how they should work to survive. If you remember Harry calls Mars a boy because when he was drawing him he is a boy, so much of the animal’s ability to live is due to Harry understanding what that animal should be like. Once he realizes this, he will have no other problems.


	4. The Good Guys, the Bad Guys, and Everyone In Between

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Character Death and Animal Death

“So let me get this straight, there is some dead crazy guy that the kid will have to kill because of some prophesy made by someone?” Logan asked with a raised eyebrow as he sized up the three tied up men in front of him, “And you expect me to believe this?”

“Mr. Logan-“ Dumbledore started only to get interrupted by the very boy he was trying to convince to accompany them.

“Fix my dog,” Harry said in a forceful voice with a bit of a growl in it.

“Untie me and I will awaken your dog, boy,” Severus bit out as he continued to struggle against the living binds. Harry stared at the man that seemed to be reluctantly in their presence before looking over to Logan. With a raised eyebrow meeting his inquisitive gaze, Harry sighed before the vines seemed to fall away from Severus as if they were as weak as string cheese. Severus straightened his robes in obvious discomfort before waving his stick with another muttered word and flash of light. Mars leapt up as if he had only been lying down in comfort before growling deeply at Remus and stalking forward. Logan and Harry watched silently as Mars stopped just before Remus Lupin, turned, raised his leg, and pissed.

“Mars, not in the cabin!” Harry cried out in distaste, completely ignoring that Mars had urinated on the tied up Remus Lupin. A deep chuckling came from the side of the room, where Logan watched with amusement in his eyes, before the clearly annoyed voice of Severus Snape interrupted the show.

“This is not getting us anywhere headmaster, it is obvious that the boy does not believe that we are here to help him and the wolf obviously didn’t help with stunning the brat’s dog,” Severus said with a barely veiled insult in his words. Logan gave a grunt in agreement and Harry ignored the conversation now that Mars was fine, content to let Logan deal with it. 

“Listen, I’ve seen that you have some energy manipulation thing going on, so you’re either mutants with delusions or really wizards, but whatever you are it doesn’t involve me or the kid,” Logan said forcefully, wanting these people away from them.

“We can help Harry learn to control his power and train him to survive the confrontation with Voldemort, he isn’t dead by any means,” Dumbledore said ignoring that Harry was a mutant and therefore controlled his power by completely different means than wizards. Severus watched as the argument between the headmaster, claiming to be able to help the Potter brat, and Logan, claiming that as they were not of their world they did not have any obligations to it, continued. Frankly, Severus agreed with Logan. ‘Potter is no better than a squib in the magical world and will be feared as a mutant’ Severus thought, ‘perhaps it would be better just to leave them alone, but loath as I am to admit it the brat is the only one that can destroy the Dark Lord.’

The argument between Dumbledore and Logan had been going for ten minutes and neither side seemed to be inclined to stop, although Logan looked as if he wanted to just kill the headmaster and be done with it. Severus looked away from the two arguing men to see Harry in the corner drawing what resembled a snake-bodied dragon. The picture showed a dragon with green scales, a long snake-like body, and green/blue wings. Before the boy could finish the drawing, Logan noticed out of the corner of his eyes and gave a curt, “stop” that Harry immediately responded to. Curiosity showed briefly on Severus’ face before he covered it. Returning to the argument that Dumbledore continued after the brief respite, Severus decided to just end it with a logical statement, “Potter does not belong to our world any longer as he is a mutant, however he has an obligation to our world as a participant in a prophesy. His powers are different from ours and without knowing what they are or understanding how mutant powers work, there is no way to teach the boy on our end. However, if the Dark Lord returns it would be in our best interest to prepare the brat.”

“Indeed Severus, indeed, I am glad that you volunteered to teach young Harry, my boy. Now that we have an agreement that is acceptable to both parties perhaps young Harry can un-tie us and we will be on our way,” Dumbledore said cheerfully with a twinkle in his eyes again. Looking up from his toy truck that he had begun to play with after Logan’s veto on his drawing, Harry searched for an answer in Logan’s eyes. Seeing that Logan seemed resigned to the decision, if only to get rid of the old man, Harry concentrated on the vines around the two still bound men. Again, the binds fell away and after an encouraging growl from Logan, the two men apparated away. Harry went back to his playing as he did not see the need to be a part of whatever rules of conduct or comfort the men were about to set in place. It was much later, and after they ate a meal of cooked rabbit, that Severus pressed Harry to finish the drawing. Looking to Logan for assurance, Harry finished the drawing. Almost immediately, the page started to glow, only to recede a couple minutes later. On his lap, resting on his sketchbook, sat the exact animal he was drawing. Ten minutes later, the animal died.

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Harry sighed heavily as he read the chapter on desert plants from his botany book. He was told by Snape to read two chapters: the chapter on desert plants and the chapter on carnivorous plants. Then he was to write an essay on the environments he would be able to encourage their growth in or how he could encourage their growth in unsuitable environments. Mars gave a huff from his place lying next to him as Harry gave another heavy sigh. Hearing a chuckle, Harry glanced up to scowl at Logan who was leaning on a tree across from him in the clearing. It had been four years since Snape had been volunteered by Dumbledore to teach him to control his powers. In that time an understanding of sorts had been put in place between Snape and Logan, they stayed out of each other’s way. 

Snape learned after seeing the first failed attempt at creating a magical or imaginary creature and learning the story behind Mars that understanding the physiology of the creature went a long way in creating the creature. Therefore, he bought animal physiology books and books to explain the natural hierarchy/habitats of the animals. Considering that there was little known about magical creature physiology, Snape bought biology books to better understand how things work in nature and have a better mental image for Harry to work his imagination around. Using the assumption that understanding is also key for Harry to control plants, Snape bought botany books both magical and non-magical. With these in hand, Snape started to teach Harry how the world around him worked.

“Looks like you could take a break kid,” Logan said in his gravelly voice. It was obvious that Harry was tired of reading about plants, although he had an unnatural interest in them. 

“I’m not a kid,” Harry said in his soft voice with a bit of a pout, although he did collect his books into the cloth satchel Logan had bought him two years ago. Logan grunted in return as he led Harry back to the cabin where they encountered a pacing Severus Snape. Raising an eyebrow at the nervous man, Logan walked past him into the cabin that had reluctantly become their permanent home. Harry stopped to watch Snape curiously, wondering what could have flustered the normally unshakable man. Shrugging his shoulders, Harry continued into the cabin to see the nightmare eater sitting on his bed. The nightmare eater was the first imaginary/magical creature he created. It looked like a bit like a miniature E.T. from the movie, but had dark shadowy skin, swirling silver eyes, and razor sharp teeth. Much as its name implies, it receives sustenance from eating nightmares.

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Later Logan and Harry found out about Voldemort being back, somehow regaining a body when Harry was twelve, and gathering allies for last three years. Fifteen-year-old Harry was lean and, although still struggling with his control of plants, had a good grasp on his powers. Thanks to Logan, Harry had the ability to fight with knives and with his healing ability could afford to be reckless. However, Severus was the most helpful in preparing Harry to fulfill the prophesy by dueling with Harry and Logan to give them a feel of how fast spells traveled and what colors did what. They found that their mutant healing ability could heal from many of the commonly used harmful spells; they did not try the killing curse. Unfortunately, this did not reassure them about the battle that Dumbledore was sure to retrieve them for; after all, there were things in the magical world that Harry could not dream of. 

Harry was alone for the moment as Severus had gone looking for the few potion ingredients that could be found in the forests around them and Logan had gone hunting for big game with Mars, as it was getting closer to winter. Logan had been gone for an hour and Severus only half an hour before several sharp cracks of what Harry recognized as apparition sounded outside the cabin. Looking outside the window, Harry saw robed figures gathered around a young figure with a snake draped around his neck. Startled, Harry cursed softly before rushing towards the table where a nearly finished picture of three serpentine dragons lay. Finishing in under a minute, the picture began to glow. The dragons surrounded Harry as he exited the cabin to have better mobility and home-field advantage. Using the back door that the paranoid Logan had installed for quick, easy escape he was able to listen to the conversation of the enemy.

“The boy will be mine to deal with, do you understand?” asked a serpentine voice with the glee of a predator stalking its prey.

“Yes my lord,” came the response of several voices.

“Lucius, Bella, you are to take care of the traitor and you others can have fun with whomever else is around,” the serpentine voice commanded. 

The voices became muted as Harry headed into the woods surrounding the house. After all, why confront the enemy head on when Harry could instead pick them off one by one. It was only moments after he had taken shelter in the woods to await the enemy’s search that a strangled cry of rage was heard from the cabin. As expected, the group started to search the surrounding woods and Harry gave his dragons the instruction to kill any of the robed figures they come across, minus Severus who he described. Then opening his connection to the nature around him, he was able to pinpoint the location of each figure. With little fanfare, he started to encourage the plants around him to capture the figures and had all but four confined before he sensed Logan and Severus joining the fray. Soon only three were left alive and it seemed they had enough sense to leave the woods to stay that way. Giving a sigh when their only option was to confront them head on, the trio and Mars left the woods to enter the clearing surrounding the cabin. Serpentine red eyes watched as they came to a stop across the clearing from the four dark figures and narrowed when two serpentine dragons came to a stop behind them, one was killed by a blood-boiling curse thrown by a dying death eater. 

“Severus, I am disappointed in you,” Voldemort said in a dangerous voice that promised torture and death, “Lucius, Bella, make sure he gets his just rewards for being a traitor while I take care of these other two.”

Logan raised an eyebrow at the man that all these wizards were afraid of, did he not see they were outmatched. With a shrug of his shoulders, Logan moved away from Harry, to give the man a moving target. Mars decided to stay with Harry and the two dragons split between Logan and Harry, both keeping their eyes on Voldemort. Soon Logan understood that the man was powerful, as five minutes later the two dragons were dead and Voldemort was wounded, but still standing. Claws and knives bloody, Logan and Harry went at Voldemort again only to have to dodge a sickly green light. ‘He is getting desperate, which means he is getting stupid and dangerous’ Logan thought with a smirk. Glancing to the side, Logan saw that Severus had taken out the woman and was dueling the man. Focusing back on Voldemort, he saw that the serpentine man knew better than to take either opponent’s powers lightly and had a sliver of fear in his eyes. A groan was heard from the side and Harry distractedly looked over to see Lucius grinning maniacally even as he clutched the bloody stump that was left of his arm; glancing over to Severus, Harry saw numerous deep cuts all across the man’s torso and a lot of blood. Terrified, Harry didn’t notice Voldemort blast back Logan only to notice Harry’s distraction and shoot a killing curse off in Harry’s direction. 

“Harry!” came the gruff shout of Logan as the sickly green light sped toward him. Mars jumped in front of Harry as the light came close to hitting and took the curse dropping to the ground hard. Unlike those years ago in the cabin, Harry knew that Mars would not be getting back up. Despair settled over Harry and numbness took hold of his senses. His eyes were on Mars’ body, unable to look away when Voldemort’s cruel, taunting laugh broke through the numbness. Ripping his eyes from Mars’ body, Harry looked at Voldemort his eyes glowing unnaturally bright as fury replaced his numbness. Harry watched as Voldemort dodged a lunge by Logan only to laugh as Logan in turn had to dodge the light of an unknown curse. Unbeknownst to all of them was the grass growing taller and the plants weaving together around Voldemort’s legs. It was when Voldemort went to dodge Logan again that he noticed the restraints locking him in place. A deep grunt escaped as Logan’s claws went into his side.

“Looks like this is the end for you bub,” Logan said with a smirk, digging his claws in a deep as they could go. The plants were weaving around Voldemort farther, restricting his legs and now his hands as his eyes went wide in fear. Voldemort looked around trying to find some way out of the situation he found himself in. Lucius was dead several yards away having lost too much blood from the severing of his arm while the traitor Severus was groaning in pain on the ground across from him. Bellatrix was long dead, cut down by Severus’ dueling skills and the rest of his minions had been cut down in the woods surrounding the little cabin the supposed savior had been hidden away in. His torso was being constricted by the strong plants weaving around him and his breath was being forced out of him with little ability to take a breath to replace it. He supposed this was what his precious Nagini’s victims felt as she squeezed the life from them. Logan retracted his blades as he watched the crazed man being suffocated. Soon all of Voldemort was covered in the vine-like plants that had captured him. Just as Logan went to turn away from the scene, there was a squelching and ripping sound before blood spurted in every direction covering Logan in the gore. Wiping his face with his arm to get as much of the blood off his face as he could, Logan walked over to Harry who stood silent his eyes still glowing. 

“Kid, you alright?” Logan asked, reaching for the teen. Harry seemed not to acknowledge him and a pained groan caught his attention. Noticing Severus trying to sit up, Logan went to him and laid a solid hand on the man’s shoulder to keep him down. “Might not want to do that.”

“Potter,” Severus groaned out, trying again to sit up. Logan just kept his hand in place and started to move his heavy robes aside to see the damage. The deep cuts were soaking the ground in Severus’ blood and his breathing was shallow and wet. It wasn’t long before Severus breath shuddered and stopped, unable to deal with so much blood loss and internal damage. Turning back to Harry, Logan rushed over when he noticed the swaying. Catching him as he collapsed, Logan carried Harry to the truck that had not moved in quite some time but Logan figured was going to get a lot of use now. Settling Harry into the passenger seat and easing the seatbelt around him, Logan went to gather up their personal belongings. Starting the truck and heading away from the cabin that had been both their home and prison for the last few years, Logan was not surprised to see the forest swallowing the place up behind them. Harry woke up in the truck, wondering for a moment if everything had just been one long dream but knowing that wasn’t the case. Remembering the battle and Mars’ death, Harry’s breath hitched before a sob break free before another hit and another. Logan reached his hand over to rest on Harry’s head in comfort his attention focused on the road ahead of them. ‘Dumbledore can clean up his own mess’ Logan thought in his head as he glanced over at his distraught kid. Harry’s eyes were still glowing a bit, although not as intense as after Mars’ death in the battle. It seemed that whatever emotional storm would result from this battle, Harry finally had full control of his nature power. Burying his face in whatever was in his lap; Harry after a while was able to recognize the nightmare eater sitting in his lap. Letting his mind wander, trying to sort through his grief, Harry realized that being in the truck again meant that they were free. Free of obligations and free of the wizarding world.


	5. The Tricky Old Man

Sitting at a table in the corner of the bar, facing the cage in the center Harry sat sketching a forest scene. Smoke curled up around the room placing everything in a hazy film. Beer and sweat filled the room with an unpleasant aroma that went ignored by all the patrons, many of whom were already well on their way to drunkenness. Logan was inside the cage pretending to have to work at winning the fight against the local tough guy who had jumped in the cage with him. Harry didn’t worry about anyone messing with him as he and Logan were regulars there and the bartender kept an eye on him as did all the waitresses. Therefore, he was startled when someone cleared their throat across from them. Looking up, Harry’s eyes widened at seeing a familiar silver-haired old man sitting across from him.

“It appears that you are doing well my boy, although I must say that this seems no place for a young man to be,” the old man said, looking around the place with an amused glint in his bright blue eyes. Before Harry could respond, one of the waitresses came over and gave a tight smile.

“What can I get you mister?” The waitress asked, giving Harry a look to check if he was uncomfortable.

“Oh none of this mister business, you’ll make me feel old,” the old man said jovially, waving a hand in front of him as if to wave away the word, “My name is Albus Dumbledore and I will have whatever you recommend my dear.” The woman narrowed her eyes on the man, wrote something on her pad and turned to Harry.

“Want another cola dear? Or another batch of wings?” the waitress asked Harry giving him a soft smile. Harry nodded eagerly and the waitress laughed before leaving toward the bar. Left alone with Dumbledore, Harry was unsure of why the old man had tracked him down. Looking toward the cage, he saw that Logan had noticed Dumbledore and with a thud his opponent dropped hard to the mat of the cage. Logan moved quickly as soon as they opened the cage door, barely remembering to collect his winnings from the cage leader. Before Harry could get too uncomfortable Logan was at the table glaring daggers at Dumbledore, which the old man ignored. 

“Ah, Logan was it, how are you doing? I’m sure you’re busy taking care of a teenage boy,” Albus said conversationally, ignoring the low volume growl that was clearly coming from the feral man. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here?” Logan just growled louder at the rhetorical question as he was positive the man knew he was very unwelcome in their lives. There was a period where Albus simply sat there most likely waiting for one of the two to ask him the question he himself had just presented. The period stretched for so long that the waitress had come back with a fresh batch of wings, which she set in front of Harry with a smile, a bottle of cola that also was set by Harry and a cold bottle of beer that she set in front of Logan. With a nonchalant comment concerning waiting on Dumbledore’s order, she left them be after giving Logan an appreciative once over. Logan picked up the beer and took four deep swallows, drinking most of the liquid down in the process before spearing Dumbledore with a hard stare. 

“Fine, I’ll bite, what do you want with us?” Harry asked with a heavy sigh, his brilliant green eyes narrowed at the old wizard. Albus hid a shudder at seeing such familiar eyes and such a familiar face glaring at him in such unease and dislike. Similarly, he knew that his reasons for being here would be unpleasant to the two wild men who valued their freedom above all else. 

“The Wizarding World is reeling after the defeat of Voldemort and I am afraid that it will descend into chaos without someone to guide it,” Albus began being careful to ensure that none could overhear their conversation. 

“Not our problem, bub,” Logan growled out, noting Harry’s faraway look at the topic. 

“Aww, but it is for regardless of your magic-less status you are our saviors and that is what the Wizarding people need. They need saving and they need people to rally behind and I am not enough any longer,” Dumbledore admitted imploringly, hoping that perhaps young Harry would be willing to help unknown people in his kindness. ‘However, just in case they are not as altruistic as I hope perhaps another method could be used alongside such hope,’ Albus thought. “Plus there is the matter of the Potter inheritance that could be of use only to the last Potter.” 

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It was an uncomfortable Logan and uncertain Harry that departed the plane in London, England. Having used their meager savings to buy two tickets and see what this inheritance was all about. As they left the interior and hailed a cab to bring them to the location that was given to them for this Leaky Cauldron, Harry stayed close to Logan. Sitting in the cab and listening to the driver prattle about all the sites they must visit during their vacation, the duo wondered if they made a mistake but were not going to abandon the course they had put themselves upon. Arriving at the spot, they paid the driver and got out to look around. Rather than head immediately for the dingy pub that they could make out although it seemed shimmery and strange as though it were merely a mirage rather than truly being there, the duo prowled up and down the street noting the other buildings and venues along the street. Mainly the street seemed abandoned with only a few small shops holding on along the seemly rarely traveled road. They took notice that they weren’t far from some very busy streets teeming with people going about their business. Finally having scouted the general area around the Wizarding World entrance, Logan and Harry entered the Leak Cauldron.

“Glad that you made it my boys,” Dumbledore said jovially and loudly, catching the attention of the rather packed bar. Logan narrowed his eyes at the man and Harry slid behind the much fiercer Logan as the people’s attention seemed to narrow on him. “Come, come, I’ll take to Diagon Alley. It’s a most wondrous site the first time you lay eyes upon it.”

“Hey now Albus, who are these two and why does the lad look like ol’ James Potter, rest his soul?” the old, wrinkled bartender said, his single tooth gleaming in his mouth. Many of the patrons nodded, while others eyes gleamed at the implication. As Dumbledore was about to open his mouth, he noticed the look of promised death in Logan’s eyes if he even suggested something that would no doubt get his son mobbed by these people. 

“All in good time, my friend, all in good time. For now, I believe I must show my friends our illustrious shopping center,” Albus said with a smile gesturing for the father and son to follow him to the back of the bar. As they stepped into the little cobblestone alleyway, Harry sighed in relief as the eerie feeling of eyes on him stopped as the door closed behind them. “I am rather sorry about that my boy; I am a bit of a celebrity and people tend to congregate wherever I happen to be.” 

“That doesn’t explain their interest in me, since I assumed they thought me dead,” Harry said anxiously, shivering at the remembered eyes just on the other side of the door. Dumbledore simply smiled and turned to the wall before taking out his wand and tapping a brick. Suddenly the wall began to shift and fold on itself to create an archway that revealed a shopping center straight out of the middle ages. Logan shifted in unease at all the people and the unfamiliarity of this environment. There were items floating through the air following people, little beings popping into existence to take items and popping away again, unfamiliar terms being yelled about by people dressed in cloaks and long flowing robes; it was quite overwhelming for the duo who hesitated to move into the fray.

“I know it seems quite lively and surely rather different than your simpler lives but regardless of the apparent carefreeness of the situation, these people need guidance,” Albus said smiling gently at them but not trying to force them to move into the alley proper.

“That ain’t why we’re here,” Logan said gruffly, taking Harry’s arm and leading him into the alley. Dumbledore said nothing to the comment and simply followed the men, explaining anything that he could see catch Harry’s eye as they darted around them. Soon they were at the large marble building called Gringotts, the Wizarding bank ran by goblins as was explained by Albus as they ascended the steps. The door goblins gave a slight sneer as they noticed Dumbledore but said nothing and the trio continued on into the bank proper. There was a long row of goblin tellers and a counter off to one side where people dressed more normally stood in line. Wizards stood in line impatiently, some stood arguing with their teller, and others were led to a large vault door that took up an entire wall. Logan and Harry got in the shortest line, which contained a rather plump red-haired woman with pain etched on her face and a rather tall red-haired teen who kept his gaze down. The red-head turned to see who entered their line and scrunched his face in confusion upon seeing Harry before noticing Dumbledore behind the boy. Quickly he turned around and whispered in his mother’s ear. She spun around as though a nimble dancer and lit up upon spotting Dumbledore.

“Oh Headmaster Dumbledore, it’s great to see you! We are so excited about Hogwarts re-opening, aren’t we Ronald? Just here getting some galleons for Ronald’s things,” her voice trailed off from its excitement and pain entered her eyes before she physically shook herself and smiled again, although this smile was more brittle. Ronald who had nodded when she asked about being excited looked away tensely when his mom trailed off. “Oh, who’s this then?” the woman asked when she noticed Logan and Harry.

“This is Logan and this is his adopted son, Harry Potter,” Dumbledore announced grandly, again catching the attention of all the wizards and witches in the room. Only this time, the goblins also seemed to take interest. As people abandoned their lines to crowd around Harry, Logan pulled him back and began to snarl at the mass of people. Dumbledore sensing bloodshed was about to intervene when a group of goblin guards appeared and stood in front of the duo to keep the unruly wizards and witches back. 

“Now see here,” a rather old, but tall goblin called out from a different group of armed guards several feet from where Logan and Harry were being protected from the crowd, “I will not have such unruliness within my bank. I care not for your silly notions or hero worship; this boy shall not feel such unease while within these walls. You will all go back to your business or risk heavy fines and banishment!” Quickly the crowd dispersed back to the lines they had been in previously, grumbling and talking amongst themselves about the return of Harry Potter. The goblin guards did not stand down and soon it was simply Albus Dumbledore standing before them with wide eyes filled with astonishment. 

“What the hell is your problem old man?” Logan growled, stiff in his anger but it was only the shaking hands of Harry fisted in his shirt as he hadn’t done since being a small abused child long ago that kept him from leaping forward. Dumbledore took a step forward only to stop his advancement when the goblin guards focused on him just as thoroughly as they had focused on the crowd.

“Perhaps gentleman, we should take this to my office hmm?” the old goblin said from where he had come to stand beside them. Dumbledore turned to the goblin and didn’t recognize him and from the glint in his eyes was uncertain if he wished to go with him. However, he soon realized that he was not being given a choice as he was led away behind the teller desks through a door and down a hall decorated with carvings of the goblin’s gory history.

Logan followed the goblins feeling much more comfortable with the surly beings than the fawning wizarding public. Besides any beings that seemed as unimpressed by Dumbledore as he was won points in his eyes. After a long walk down the winding halls carved with scenes of battle and fighting, they arrived at an ornate door made of gold carved with what appeared to be a family tree. The huffing Dumbledore gasped near silently due to his lack of breath and whispered about the goblin king. Entering the office was enlightening; it was rather simple with tapestries depicted battles with a central figure wearing a jeweled crown and large bookcase filled with old scrolls and a couple thick tomes. Sitting in the comfortable chairs situated in front of the large desk, Logan was not surprised when Harry chose to pull his chair as close to Logan as possible. Dumbledore sat rather stiffly in his chair watching as the old goblin walked around the desk to sit behind it on a rather throne like chair.

“So, I’m going to hazard a guess and say that you’re the king of the goblins,” Harry said simply, shrugging when Logan turned amused eyes on him and Dumbledore looked at him in shock at his nonchalance. 

“Indeed young mutant,” the goblin king stated with a small upturn of his thin lips. A few of the goblin guards around the room grinned. “You’re arrival has caused a seeming uproar in our halls. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional so don’t concern yourself with that; however, your return to this world will up the claims against your inheritance that had finally stopped in the last few years.” Harry frowned at the information, wondering if that was why people were not surprised by his existence. Although as he looked over at the uncomfortable Dumbledore, he doubted the inheritance thieves were the only reason people weren’t surprised. Harry tuned back in when he heard the goblin mention Dumbledore. “In fact Albus Dumbledore has been making attempts for the ‘Greater Good’ up until Voldemort’s defeat at which time he informed us that he would be bringing young Mr. Potter in to claim his inheritance himself.” The goblin’s small upturn of the lips was nothing compared to the toothy grin he gave when Logan swiveled to glare at Dumbledore with a deep, rumbling growl of anger echoing in the room. 

“I had intended to use the money to fund an order I had created to work toward the defeat of Voldemort and any leftover would have been given to Harry, surely,” Albus said quickly, patting the pocket his wand was in as to comfort himself. 

“Why bring me in to collect my inheritance? What would have happened if I had never shown up to collect it?” Harry posed to first Dumbledore then the Goblin King in curiosity.

“Oh, well if you had never shown to collect your inheritance then it would have gone to your closest blood relatives without any will to specify placement of monies,” came his answer, which only brought more questions.

“And my closest relatives are?” Harry asked grabbing Logan’s hand when he tensed at the question, no doubt remembering the state he had found Harry in nine almost ten years ago.

“Your magicless relatives, the Dursleys, do not count to inherit in our world; however, you do have some magical relatives as well. Sirius Black, your cousin through your father’s side and Oath-sworn Godfather, is ineligible as a soulless husk. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black and her son Draconis Lucius Malfoy are similarly cousins through your father’s side and eligible to receive funds from the inheritance. Andromeda Tonks nee Black and her daughter Nymphadora Tonks are also paternal cousins and eligible to receive funds, although would have a lesser claim due to Andromeda being disinherited from the Black family. There are others who could make some claim due to obscure family ties although the aforementioned named are the most eligible to have claim. Malfoy, the name brought forth a memory of the blonde man with a missing arm bleeding out across from the cut-up Severus Snape. Harry shivered and asked what the course of action was now. 

“I don’t have magic, does it matter that I showed up at all?”

“Mutants are not considered magicless; therefore the inheritance is yours by rights once you turn seventeen. Provided that you stay in the Wizarding World to collect of course,” the Goblin King said looking at Dumbledore at the end; no doubt having caught on that this was the old man’s plan all along.


	6. Downfalls of Being a Savior

Chapter Six: The Downfalls of Being a Savior

‘A year, one whole year in this hero-worshiping, backwards society before I can get my money’ Harry thought to himself as he sat before the goblin king with his Dad; Logan was not pleased if the deep growl was anything to go by. Harry considered the downfalls of just leaving the gold untouched and allowing his “closest” relatives to collect but then he remembered the blonde bleeding out across from Severus. ‘Didn’t that snake guy call him Malfoy and that was the family most likely to get the money if I didn’t collect’ Harry thought to himself with a frown, keeping his anger and sorrow down as he replayed the memories in his mind. Weighing the pros and cons of leaving the money and wizarding world or staying, Harry didn’t notice the looks the goblin king, Albus, and Logan were giving him as they waited for him to tune back into the conversation. Blinking as he came out of his inner debate, Harry was startled by the focus of the three men, beings, whatever.

“So, what does staying in the Wizarding World mean? Do we just have to show our faces every now and again? Do we have to stay in Britain or are there Wizarding communities everywhere? Do I have to go to school?” Harry asked in quick succession to the amusement of the assembled group, although Albus frowned a bit at the questions. 

“Of course you must stay here, my boy, if you need a residence I can offer guest rooms at Hogwarts until you enroll in the fall,” Albus said jovially, ignoring the glare the goblins in the room sent him.

“While you do have to keep your residence in Magical Britain as stipulated by Potter Family Law, you have property where you can stay therefore invalidating the esteemed Headmaster’s offer. That answers questions one and two and as for question three; you must attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for at least one year if you are offered a place, which the Headmaster just offered in a rather presumptuous manner,” the goblin king spoke, overtaking whatever else Albus was about to say. Besides having a place to stay in besides Hogwarts guest housing, the only other thing that kept the scowl from Harry’s face was the click of Dumbledore closing his open mouth as the goblin king cut him off, although Harry could have done without the twinkling eyes when the Hogwarts attendance was explained as mandatory.

“The kid can’t even use your magic,” Logan spoke for the first time since they entered the office. His deep voice seemed to rumble through the room like thunder and made the goblins guards shift, possibly at the sense of danger and wildness that the voice contained. Logan’s eyes were trained on Dumbledore alone, seeing him as the major threat in the room even though there were goblins in heavy armor wielding weapons.

“Alas that may be true, but we can still teach him about the magical world and culture, about herbology and potions, about-“ Dumbledore began to say in response to Logan’s words when he was abruptly cut off by the man whom had stood in his anger, hands curled into fists at his side. Harry was standing in front of his father, hands holding Logan’s wrists and eyes trained on Logan’s murderous face.

“You can’t teach him nothing that he can’t learn on his own or from books! Tell me why you want Harry!” Harry while curious as to the old man’s intentions himself refused to turn his attentions from his angry father, after all he doubted that these wizards would be impressed if they killed their venerable headmaster. Unsurprisingly Dumbledore did not answer, instead turning his attention to the goblin king. Struggling to keep Logan from lunging, Harry just barely heard the goblin king speaking about a few last minute items before declaring them done at the moment. 

“Mr. Potter, would you like to visit your school vault to gather some monies considering your need for school supplies or if you prefer we can just get some monies for you,” the goblin king said in a mixture of question and statement. 

“Umm, if you would just gather some monies together that would be great; I think we’ve had our fill of things for now,” Harry said quietly, having moved to hugging his father something that has always been a rarity with the gruff man but did successfully calm him down.   
“Of course Mr. Potter,” the goblin king said pushing a square on his desk that caused another goblin to enter. The king spoke to this new goblin in a harsh gruff language before he hurried out, quickly the goblin returned with a small pouch that he set on the desk before leaving again without a word. “This pouch is bottomless, weightless and after you place a bit of blood on the material it will be keyed only to your blood so that no other can use it.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Albus said with a wave of the hand that the goblin king’s explanation.

“As you are neither the boy’s parent nor guardian, I do not believe that decision is yours to make,” the goblin king said nastily before turning to Logan who had retaken his seat with Harry seated at his feet leaning back against his legs. Logan simply grunted and Harry, knowing that it was his decision stood fluidly and approached the desk. Taking out a switchblade, Harry cut his finger deeply and smeared the small amount of blood on the bag pulling his unblemished finger away when the bag flashed a bright white before the material changed color to an emerald green that matched his eyes. Leaving the office and re-entering the bank lobby, Harry was unprepared to run into a literal mob of people who seemed to be there for non-bank purposes if their laser focus on the trio was anything to go by. Trying to ignore the mob as they left the bank, Harry opened the folder that had been handed to him before they left the office and looked over the list of properties that was presented. 

“Ah, no need to look at those old, dusty places, Hogwarts has more than enough space for your stay and I’m sure that we can find lodging for your companion in Hogsmeade, a quaint little village just down a ways from the school,” Albus said as he followed in the small family’s footsteps as they explored the alley. 

“First off, I don’t believe you were invited on this trip of ours outside of being our guide to the bank,” Harry said coldly, getting agitated at the old man’s presumptions and highhandedness, “Second, while I’m sure I’ll have to leave the only man I’ve known as a father to attend this school of yours that I’m being forced to attend by you no less, I will not be separated from him before hand for whatever purpose you intend. Third, you cannot make my decisions for me!” Gasps of outrage could be heard from the crowd that seemed to also be following them around. He was sure there were some women berating him for disrespect of elders or some such as well, not that he cared in the slightest. Dumbledore seemed shocked at his outburst as well as annoyed at having been spoken to in that manner in public. Before he could say anything that would no doubt encourage Harry to let his temper fly, a vaguely familiar man in ratty brown robes pushed his way through the crowd.

“Harry!” the man exclaimed before moving forward to no doubt hug Harry, which Harry jumped back into Logan to avoid as he had no idea exactly who the man was even if there was some memory trying to pop up, but as it involved Mars, Harry quickly locked it away for now.

“Remus, Remus Lupin, how good to see you old friend!” Albus said placing his hand on the man’s shoulder. Recognition flooded Harry, Severus had told him about Remus Lupin. Harry remained annoyed and wary as well; remembering how Severus told him the man expected him to be his biological father who he was best friends with. Unsure how much of Severus’ words might have been due to his dislike of the man, Harry decided to withhold his decision on the man. “Perhaps you could accompany young Harry and his guardian?”

“Of course, Logan correct?” Remus asked, turning toward Logan and extending his arm for a handshake that went ignored. More murmuring, this time regarding rudeness went up around them. Albus thankfully departed after Remus’ affirmation of keeping watch on them. “We still need to pick up your school things, so how about we start with the book store?”

Reluctantly following Lupin as he led them and the tailing crowd to the bookstore, Harry was unsurprised when Logan melted into the crowd disappearing. This was uncomfortable for Harry, so no doubt Logan had reached his limit regarding interacting with people. Remus seemed happy when he realized that Logan was no longer with their party as they perused the stacks of books. Uninterested in whatever small talk Lupin was trying to begin, Harry looked at the stacks as they moved through them. There were a few books on advanced Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures that caught his eye as he didn’t have them yet. As he reached out for them, Remus grabbed his hand. “I think those are a little advanced for you Harry, that’s Mastery level material.”

“For your information, I have been studying Herbology and Magical Creatures for the last eight years,” Harry said shortly before shaking his hand loose and grabbing the two books. He walked away from Lupin to continue browsing the shelves. Quickly, Lupin caught up a shopping basket floating behind him with books in it. 

“Sorry if I offended you Harry, I had no idea that you had studied anything magical in these years,” Remus said apologetically, his amber eyes pleading with Harry to forgive his presumption. “Of course you are smart; you mum and dad were smart too.”

“If you say so,” Harry mumbled, grabbing a couple more books except on Wizarding culture so he would be prepared for how this world operated. Their time in the bookstore was awkward and stilted as Lupin kept trying to bridge the gap between them. Shortly after they left to head to the clothing shop, Logan reappeared. Remus startled slightly at the man reappearing suddenly like he did and Harry simply nodded at his father as they entered the clothing shop, Madam Malkin’s or some such. The tagalongs followed the trio into the shop as well immediately crowding the space. A plump, stout woman came from the back only to stop and blink in surprise at all the people in her shop. ‘I know we are exceptionally busier during summer, but this is ridiculous’ Madam Malkin thought to herself as she surveyed the abundance of witches and wizards in her shop. 

“Hello everyone, welcome to Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions,” Madam Malkin greeted cheerfully, noticing that only a few of the group seemed interested in her at all, “I’m Madam Malkin, what can I do for you?”

“Umm, I was told that Hogwarts has a uniform and that I can purchase it here,” Harry spoke up before Remus could. Madam Malkin smiled at Harry and motioned him forward only to pause when the rest of the assembled people tried to follow.

“Excuse me, but if you aren’t here to shop I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Madam Malkin said sternly, her narrowed eyes taking in the group that was shifting guiltily like the schoolchildren she provided uniforms for. When it appeared that the group was going to be stubborn, she revealed her wand with a flick of her wrist and raised an eyebrow in challenge. Quick to leave after that, only a few remained their children front and center almost as to provide a shield of relevance to explain their presence. Giving a tight smile, she ushered the families to the back taking note of Harry, a redhead she recognized as Ronald Weasley and a tall, platinum blonde who could be none other than a Malfoy. Directing the children to the awaiting platforms she left them for a moment to collect sample uniforms, material and her helpers. The families stood together in silence, although Harry noticed the tension between the redheaded and blonde families. Deciding to do something to break it if only to not have to deal with the discomfort any longer, Harry cleared his throat gaining the other two teens’ attention, “Hi, I’m Harry Potter and this is my dad Logan. What are your names?”

“You would know our names if you weren’t a magicless squib being favored for being the Light side’s savior,” the blonde spat out, his stoic mother grabbing his shoulder in a tight grip. Harry blinked in surprise but before he could respond the redhead teen was by his side with a wand brandished toward the blonde. 

“You better shut your mouth Malfoy before someone decides to shut you up!” the redhead, who Harry thought was the Ronald from the bank earlier shouted back loudly, brandishing his wand in front of him like it was a sword. His mother was tutting in the background but not trying very hard to scold him, making it clear she didn’t disagree with his words. A deep sneer curled the two blondes’ lips as the glared at the redhead-Ronald. 

“At least I don’t have to search for Knuts in the furniture to get a new robe, oh but maybe without your sister galleons aren’t quite so tight,” Malfoy replied nastily, causing the redhead and his mother to turn a deep red color before Ronald lunged at the teen Malfoy forgoing his wand to slug the blonde teen. Falling back into his mother, the blonde whipped out his wand a vibrant purple color flying from it towards a stunned Harry. Recognizing the color as a cutting curse of some kind from the intense drills Severus had put them through, Harry didn’t dodge. He saw that Remus had his wand out, eyes wide just a few seconds too late to respond but he just smiled as his chest was cut in deep gashes ruining his shirt with tears and blood. The gashes began to close almost immediately after opening. Without notice, Madam Malkin and her assistants had returned and the pale woman had whipped her wand out to subdue Malfoy and his mother as well as disarm them.

“What is going on here? I leave for one moment and return to an all-out duel going on in my shop!” Madam Malkin cried out in equal parts horror and anger. 

“Not an all-out duel; after all, these two idiots are still alive,” Harry murmured under his breath as he crossed his arms over his ripped, blood soaked shirt and unmarred chest. Ignoring the choking sound Remus Lupin was making behind him, his wand still help aloft, Harry added in a louder voice, “Madam while I am sorry this unfortunate incident happened, it is hardly an all-out duel after all the parents were hardly involved.” Logan snorted as the two women flushed from being called out by a sixteen-year-old for their lack of parenting. 

“Be that as it may, my shop is not the place for such disputes,” Madam Malkin replied to Harry, although she did have a small smile and seemed a bit less irate than when she walked in, “Especially considering you and your father’s lack of magic why this could have been a disaster if you didn’t have that nifty healing ability.” She gestured to his body towards the end bringing focus back to the healed skin partially hidden behind the torn, bloody shirt. “Why even without injury this is an obvious case of assault!” Madam Malkin was working back up to her level of anger upon entry into the room. The teen Malfoy and his mother both paled at the words giving them an unhealthily pale complexion that made them seem moments away from dropping into unconsciousness. 

“That’s right; those Deatheatesr belong in Azkaban!” Ronald yelled pointing an accusing finger at the terrified duo. 

“Mr. Weasley, I will not have such accusations in my shop! While the Malfoys seem to be in the wrong in this dispute; that does not put you in the right!” Madam Malkin snapped at the bigoted redhead. She narrowed her eyes when the teen opened his mouth.

“While all this internalized bigotry and retribution is great, it really is, can we get back to the Hogwarts uniforms?” Harry asked as he stripped his ruined shirt off and stuffed it into the canvas bag his father was holding. 

“But don’t you want the Aurors here to arrest Malfoy, he tried to kill you!” Ronald cried out in shock still gesturing wildly, with pointed fingers being his most prominent go-to gesture. 

“Are Aurors some kind of law enforcement?” Harry asked Remus Lupin, the only adult he trusted at the moment to not be a bigoted idiot that knew this culture.

“Yes, Aurors are our law enforcement; they are like street police, detectives, and military all rolled into one,” Remus Lupin replied after clearing his throat to regain his wits.

“Well that seems inefficient,” Harry murmured causing a loud laugh to erupt from Logan that seemed to shock the other adults and made Harry turn red as he hoped no one else heard his critique of their society. “I do not want to call Aurors on another teenage boy for reacting badly to malicious taunting even if he was rude to start with. Besides I could always assume his aim was merely off after being assaulted physically after being threatened by a magical weapon also known as a wand. It is not as if I could say for sure what the young blonde’s motives are or anything regarding his guilt considering my lack of knowledge of the culture or circumstances occurring here, but I could conclude that there is bad blood and therefore I can be the only impartial witness.” The Malfoys’ eyes were wide, probably the only sign of shock they allowed themselves to show, while the redheads were red in the face. The mother opened her mouth to no doubt start a long tirade.

“Listen, shit happens; the kid don’t want no law involved and that’s that. Blondie was in the wrong but so was Carrot-top over there so as far as we see it either everyone gets law coming down on them or no was does. Your pick,” Logan said in his typical growly voice that came with his annoyance. Harry smirked when the redheads turned even redder, wondering if they would actually have steam come from their ears in a bit. 

“Mrs. Weasley, it is probably best to let this lie, now I will be keeping the Malfoys wands and I trust you will not force me to take yours as well?” Madam Malkin asked in a calm, sweet voice. Disgruntled, the Weasleys put away their wands and returned to their spot in the room deciding to ignore everyone else beside the muttered insults. Directing an assistant to cover the Weasleys and the other to the Malfoys, she headed for the intriguing supposed Savior and his gruff father. Setting her magical tape measure to its job she dug through the fabrics she came with to choose the hardiest of them and looked over the young man to choose colors. Taking her time, she was relieved when the other two families finished up and she was left only with Harry Potter and his party.

“I’m sure you don’t wish to be in the spotlight, but you will be for your every action. What you did here in my shop will have you hated by those that believe they are in the right and suspicion from those along the fringes like Mr. Malfoy. You see the bigotry for what it is and because of that you can change it. You’ll do great things, Mr. Potter, great things indeed.” Madam Malkin said as she finished up her hemming and adjustments. “There you go, your school uniform is all done.”


	7. Collisions in the Alley/Unwanted Roommates

Chapter 7: Collisions in the Alley/Unwanted Roommates 

Leaving Madam Malkin’s as Lupin told him the shop was normally called, Harry rummaged through his satchel looking for the folder of paperwork on his properties. For some reason, the folder was evading his questing fingers and finding the thing was taking quite a bit of focus. So much so in fact that Harry, not looking where he was going, collided with a hard chest. The only thing that kept him from falling on his butt was the solid form of his father who stepped up behind him to keep him on his feet. Looking up to see who he ran into, Harry saw a tall mocha-skinned teen with piercing amethyst eyes and high cheekbones who was leanly muscled and carried himself with a natural elegance that the most successful runway model would kill to achieve. 

“It would behoove you to watch where you’re going,” the attractive teen drawled with narrowed eyes. Harry scowled as his mind went from ‘ooh attractive’ to ‘really?’ in seconds.

“How do I know you didn’t run into me? After all if you were watching where you were going then you could have avoided me; it’s not like I was running through the alley,” Harry replied in annoyance, how dare he accuse him of being in the wrong when he wasn’t even from this annoying society. 

“Who are you to question me?” the teen questioned in return haughtily, the sparkle in his eyes not being missed by Logan who was watching the interactions carefully. “My name, since apparently you also have no common manners, is Heir Blaise Zabini.” A small smirk curled his lips as Harry’s eyes narrowed and his fury mounted. Harry heard Lupin groan behind them but ignored him.

“Well Zabini, my name is Harry Potter and I am questioning you because you are being an arrogant jerk,” Harry said, annoyed and regretting staying in this place if every encounter was going to be this irritating. All he wanted to do was find the folder, determine where he and his Dad wanted to stay and go there until he was forced into his year of schooling. Of course that couldn’t happen; instead he had to run into this guy. Deciding he didn’t want to keep dealing with idiots all day, Harry was about to go around Zabini to the Leaky Cauldron where they were originally headed.

“Do you like ice cream?” Zabini asked suddenly, crossing his arms across his chest causing his robes to tighten and show off his physique. Harry blinked, wondering what was with the random question. Logan smirked, sure that he knew where this was going and if the shocked yammering of Lupin and some of their tag-a-longs was any indication he was right.

“Is this a trick question? Why would you even ask that; who doesn’t like ice cream?” Harry asked suspiciously, wondering what game the other teen was playing. Instead the other teen gestured to a nearby ice cream shop called Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour to which Harry simply stared uncomprehendingly and returned with a go-on gesture.

“Would you like to get ice cream with me?” Blaise asked, his small smirk curving into a crooked smile. Narrowing his eyes, Harry analyzed the other teen trying to determine his motives for the sudden invitation. Blaise Zabini stood confidently, his eyes piercing and his smile both attracting and challenging. Uncertainly, Harry agreed to the invitation and began to walk over to the ice cream shop beside Zabini and while Harry was too much in his head to notice the soft guiding hand of Zabini on his lower back his adult companions sure did. As he was guided to a seat at one of the outside tables, Harry noticed how all the tag-alongs were especially interested in whatever was going on. “What kind of ice cream would you like? Or if you are unsure I could get a menu for you to choose from?”

“I like vanilla and strawberry with chocolate sauce, if they have that,” Harry said softly, wondering if he should have just asked for a menu since he was unsure what kind of ice cream was common here.

“Simple, yet sweet, and coming right up,” Blaise replied with a smirk before walking into the shop to order. Harry watched him go in confusion before turning to face his amused father and incredulous guide-mentor-person.

“What the hell is going on?” Harry hissed figuring that Lupin would be able to tell him if this was some cultural thing he was unaware about. Logan began to chuckle turning his amused eyes to Lupin to see what his explanation would be or just how awkwardly he could explain this situation.

“Umm, well, it, we’re getting ice cream?” Remus stuttered before ending in a high, uncomfortable voice; his face flaming as Logan simply laughed harder and Lily’s green eyes in a far more dangerous face glared at him. “Heir Zabini, as he is called due to being the eldest and in this case only son of the Zabini line, invited you to join him for ice cream after successfully gaining your attention in the alley. This is typically the first step of an informal courtship or as you’ve probably more familiarly heard, dating.”

“Wait so that jerk did run into me in the alley?” Harry cried out indignantly, going back to the confrontation of a minute ago where Zabini accused him of being the cause. He was working himself into a rant that was fueled just as much by the group that had perched themselves around the other outside tables as though they all decided that ice cream sounded grand at the same time when the last sentence started processing. “Did you just say dating?”

“Yes, I believe he did; is that a problem Potter?” Blaise Zabini purred his hands holding two bowls piled with ice cream. Harry flushed and shook his head before taking his ice cream from Zabini. Absently as Harry took his first bite he heard Lupin ask his dad what ice cream he preferred before tapping his wand against the table and having the orders pop in front of them. 

“Wait, if you could order from the table why did you go into the shop to order?” Harry asked, pointing to Remus then Blaise respectively. “For that matter, if you want to court/date/whatever me why don’t you call me by my first name?”

“Is that permission?” Zabini drawled, licking his lips as he finished his spoonful of his vanilla, chocolate concoction. At Harry’s confused look, Zabini turned to Lupin and raised an eyebrow.

“Um Harry, as Zabini initiated the courtship he has to be willing to take charge for you and your comfort/needs. It is part of the rules of courtship, which are still important even in informal settings. Also you must give anyone permission to use your first name outside of family; to use it without your permission is a grave offence and can even be the basis of feuds,” Remus explained uncomfortably, refusing to make eye contact with any of the his tablemates.   
“Oh, well then you can call me Harry only if I get similar permission; this will not be one-sided Heir Zabini,” Harry said sweetly, before a taking a bite of ice cream and licking the remnants of the spoon with an unholy glee shining in his eyes. Logan was simply enjoying this entire thing, although he would be having words with the Zabini brat and his parents for that matter.

“Then you may call me Blaise, Harry; it would be my pleasure to hear it come from your lips,” Blaise replied silkily a deeper tenor in his voice than earlier. Harry flushed and continued to eat his ice cream. The table of four focused on their ice creams ignoring all else until their sweet treats were nothing but empty bowls in front of them. “Have you an address where I might write you?”

“Oh, not yet, I was trying to pull out the folder of the Potter properties when you bumped into me,” Harry said his eyes narrowed in challenge for the other teen to contradict his statement. Blaise simply smirked. “You could give me your address so I could write to you and let you know once we have that all figured out.” The gasps from a few of the people around them let him know that he had just made some mistake, but Blaise simply smirked and shook his head.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. I initiated and so I must continue to do so until I gain the approval of both yourself and your family to take our courtship to the next level or until it is broken,” Blaise explained patiently. Harry blinked in surprise before his eyes narrowed at the explanation that sounded a bit like he was the prize at the end of a marathon. Turning to his Dad, Harry wondered if he wanted to choose a house then and there so he had and address for Blaise. Getting a raised brow in return, Harry huffed pulling his satchel into his lap and opening it to find the folder. Finding it easily, when he could actually see what he was doing Harry placed it on the table where their bowls were surprisingly cleared away. Opening the folder to look over the pictures of the properties that was attached to the front of the property details, Harry chose two that seemed alright and placed them down apart before closing the folder. Logan looked at the pictures, one was a little cottage surrounded by woods and the other was a two-story farmhouse. Pulling the two options to himself, Logan flipped through the details trying to decide which would be preferred. Choosing the cottage he taps it and Harry looks at it, pain flashing in his eyes as a bittersweet smile curves his lips before handing it over to Blaise. “Alright, thank you for your address. Expect my owl shortly, until next time Harry.”

Watching as Blaise left them to no doubt return to whatever task he had been in the alley to achieve before spotting Harry, Logan smirked and hauled his son up by his collar to continue to the Leaky Cauldron. As they entered the dingy pub, Albus Dumbledoor was awaiting him in his bright robes with a fixed smile hiding impatience in his eyes. Harry scowled as the man approached them before stopping and spreading his arms as though he was welcoming his long-lost relatives. Logan glared, “Why are you here old man?”

“Aww, well, as you are choosing to live elsewhere and apparently still have much to learn about our society I thought I would come offer a solution to both our problems,” Albus stated as though they should be honored to hear his solution.

“My lack of knowledge of a culture I have never been in should not in any way be surprising; if you wanted me to understand this place perhaps you should have kept me here,” Harry replied in his sweet voice that he used to hide the barbs in his words or a carefully laid verbal trap. Dumbledore simply smiled indulgently as though he were humoring a small child. The look would only have been complete if he had patted Harry on the head, however to do so would have ended with an injury. 

“Harry, my boy, things are not as easy as those removed from the situation believes them to be,” Dumbledore chided, he paused as though to continue.

“I don’t believe I’ve given you permission to use my first name and neither are you my family,” Harry mused aloud, internally laughing, “Didn’t you say Mister Lupin that you have to be given permission to use a person’s first name unless family. I mean I understand my dear Uncle in devotion even if not blood, calling me Harry such as you, but what is the esteemed headmaster’s excuse.” Dumbledore’s face looked sour for a split second before it smoothed out into his grandfatherly look that he wore like a cape of innocence. 

“Ah but you use to look at me as a surrogate Grandfather of sorts once upon a time,” Dumbledoor mused, his eyes showing triumph when the eavesdroppers around them awed at his comment.

“Funny, I never knew any grandfathers who sent their grandchildren into an abusive hell that literally killed them until they were reborn as a different being that would never fit into their original society again,” Harry said liltingly, before pausing a bit, “Then again, I wouldn’t know since I’ve never had a Grandfather as far as I remember. So what was this so called solution to my societal naivety?” 

“Well Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore began, the disappointment coating his voice like poison on a blade. Harry was glad he was immune to poison as much as knife wounds, wouldn’t want to succumb after all. “I believe if a tutor lived with you and your father, they could teach you about our society in the time before the school year begins. I can of course recommend a great tutor who would steer you correctly regarding any societal blunders you might have gotten into in your short trip though the alley.” 

“I think if I have to have a tutor/roommate for the foreseeable future that it should be someone that I choose, don’t you headmaster?” Harry asked, “After all you would want me comfortable with who is a veritable stranger living with me and someone I can trust to give me truthful, non-bigoted information about a society I am being re-introduced to, right?” Dumbledore agreed as Harry knew he would, backed into a corner as he was. “I think since he is the only person that I know in this society and has already been doing a wonderful job guiding me, perhaps Remus Lupin would be amiable to being that tutor?” 

“Ah, but Remus is going to be our new History of Magic teacher at Hogwarts,” Dumbledoor said as though it explained away that idea. The confusion of Remus’ face told Harry and Logan that the man had not been aware of this positon being offered to him.

“That’s perfect! He can tutor me before the school year in history and culture, it will help him in his teachings of the students, and he will know where he left off so he can pick up my tutoring during school time. Isn’t that the perfect solution Headmaster Dumbledoor? Mister Lupin?” Harry clapped as he ended, his eyes shining with his apparent excitement. A small smile curled Lupin’s lips and a smirk and raised eyebrow showed on Logan’s face as he waited for Dumbledoor to counter Harry’s trap. 

“Fine,” Dumbledoor said in a near snarl, clearing his throat, “I await your year at Hogwarts; it is sure to be interesting.” Dumbledoor turned and swept from the room to a back room for what purpose Harry had no idea. Looking over a Lupin and his father, Harry began to laugh causing the two men to chuckle a bit and even a few eavesdroppers who appreciated his little verbal duel. Picking up the packet for their new home the men stood around it touching the picture before Harry said the word ‘Home’ as the goblin had instructed. A hooking feeling behind his navel and a lurch before the world around him dissolved into swirls of color is the only thing Harry knew before he felt his feet slamming into solid ground. It is only the intense training the he and Logan did that kept the two from collapsing to the ground. In front of the them was the cottage and looking over at the two men, Harry gave a small smile before moving towards the door. Opening the door, Harry looked over his shoulder to the men who were just watching him.

“Don’t just stand there, let’s get to work with any maintenance needed after all according to the paperwork this place hasn’t been habited in hundreds of years.”


	8. Second Date and Uncertain Allies

Chapter Eight: Second Date and Uncertain Allies

While there wasn’t a lot of maintenance needed on the old cottage, probably due to magical upkeep, the place was filthy and many of the plants were overgrown. It looked like there was what use to be a garden in the back but it was now filled with weeds and aggressive berry bushes. Dust was caked up all over the cottage and when Harry began to sweep it out and a cloud rose up to cause him to cough, he began to sob. Lupin, startled, rushed over to see if Harry got dust in his eyes or something had happened but Logan simply watched in sadness as his son finally dealt with memories that he had been suppressing for too long. It wasn’t until a soft, deep tenor singing pierced his own memories of a black-haired snarky man whom he knew he could trust with his son that he realized that Harry was clinging to Lupin being rocked like a small child. Walking from the room to continue his cleaning elsewhere, he hoped that Harry would gain another family member from the timid man. 

It was close to night when Harry awoke in confusion on a brown couch pushed against the wall to be out of the way. With blurred vision, Harry looked around the room blinking a few times to clear the last of the sleep from his eyes as he saw his clean surroundings. The air smelled fresher too and when a breeze brought with it the smell of the forest, Harry realized there was windows open overlooking the garden. A clearing of a throat brought Harry’s attention to Remus Lupin who was standing in the doorway with a tired, weary smile on his face. In his hands were two steaming mugs. Approaching slowly, Harry quickly shuffled himself sideways to make room for the man who sat next to him on the rather comfortable sofa handing over one of the mugs. The smell of rich chocolate wafted up with the steam and Harry smiled as he remembered Severus’ sigh of ‘just as addicted as that blasted wolf’ whenever Harry would ask for chocolate. 

“So, I’m sorry for unloading on you earlier,” Harry mumbled after taking a deep sip of the rich chocolate. Remus simply hummed beside him opting to listen to whatever Harry wished to say. “This place, it reminds me of home; well not home, but the cottage Dad, Sev and I stayed in for most of my life. When we first got to it, back when I made Mars-“ Remus simply watched out of the corner of his eyes as Harry revisited long unthought-of memories. Remus remembered Mars, hard to forget a dog pissing on you when you’re tied up in vines, but he never thought to ask after it. Sitting in silence, sipping on their chocolate, Remus simply waited to see if Harry would continue. When it became apparent that he wouldn’t, Remus decided to begin their tutorship. 

“In the Wizarding World there are different blood statuses that one can be,” Remus began in what his friends use to call his scholar voice.

“I know about that; Severus explained the blood status and bigotry associated with it when he explained about the war and my part in it. It’s more the cultural aspects of today and the etiquette/everybody-knows things that I don’t know. The general history of what led up to the war and the tensions behind it was explained to me already. I know that I am, or was, a Half-blood and that Purebloods are at the top of the spectrum,” Harry interrupted, not wanting to go over material that he already knew. Nodding Remus quieted for a moment, Harry assumed the man was deciding on how to proceed from there.

“You know, finding out what you already know would probably do me a world of good. It’s not a bad thing to consider for the Hogwarts students either,” Remus muttered, tapping his fingers on the side of his empty mug while Harry still sipped his last few bits of chocolate down. “I’ll come back to this; perhaps I’ll write up a test to see where you are in your historical/cultural education.” With that Remus collected Harry’s empty mug, stood, and walked from the room occasionally muttering to his self. Harry watched him go incredulously; the man was going to test him, seriously. Standing to explore more of his new home Harry made his way through a doorway opposite of the one Remus left through. Inside was a small room with a door that when opened led to the back garden, there were shelves lining the walls but otherwise the room was bare. Leaving the room, Harry walked through the other doorway. It was a short hallway; there was a large archway through which was the kitchen with large windows letting in plenty of light and Remus standing at the sink humming as he washed up the mugs. Continuing on, the next doorway was an old bathroom that Harry was currently uninterested in. The last two doors led to bedrooms that while bare at least had beds in them. Satisfied, Harry walked back to the kitchen to ask about his father’s location.

“Where’s Dad?” Harry asked as soon as he entered the kitchen. He watched as Remus flinched a bit, although Harry was sure it wasn’t from surprise, and waited patiently for a response.

“Logan left to scout the area and hunt some game,” Remus said with a brittle smile. Harry nodded and turned as though to leave when he heard Remus take a deep breath. “Why do you call him father? You have a father and a better man you couldn’t have found. Don’t you think it’s a bit disrespectful to just ignore that for someone else?” Harry turned back to face Remus and truly looked at the man. Remus was tired and lonely, deeply lonely. The man was grasping at whatever he could to make life a bit more bearable along with trying to hold onto a happier time. Pushing his warring annoyance and disappointment down, Harry truly thought about how to respond.

“Am I not supposed to feel a connection with the man who saved me from death and kept me safe and fed? Who stayed by me even when things were tough and downright deadly? Who against his better judgement came to some strange society to ensure I wouldn’t be taken advantage of? I call him Dad or Father because he is mine and has played the role remarkably well. As for disrespect towards my birth father, no I don’t see it as such. I don’t know James Potter outside of that he was an only child, extremely rich, and obsessed with my birth mother whom didn’t like him at first. I also know that he bullied Severus Snape, along with you, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, for apparently the reason of existing alongside being friends with my birth mother. However, I know that he could also be kind, brave, and was extremely smart. Regardless of what I do and don’t know of James Potter, the man died when I was a baby and was not here to protect me. If he really was a good man, like you claim and Sev reluctantly admitted he seemed to have become, than he would have been happy I found a new father who could protect me now,” Harry said getting louder to the point he was yelling at Remus Lupin. The man had the good grace to appear sheepish and also had a look of fear in his eyes, surely believing he might have soured the growing relationship between them. 

“Harry apologize for yelling; Lupin stop being an idiot,” Logan said gruffly as he walked past Harry into the kitchen with several dead hares tied together and being carried over his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry for yelling, but not sorry for what I said,” Harry replied sullenly, his arms crossed over his chest and his chin jutting up in stubbornness. Remus smiled, reminded of James and Lily both, but knowing this young man was his own person shaped by a different life and circumstances. Looking over to Logan who was skinning the hares and back to Harry who still stood in the doorway, Remus sighed. ‘It’s time to let go of the past’ he thought to himself.

“I understand and I’m sorry that I tried to shame you when I should just be happy that you are safe and happy,” Remus said, giving a small smile when Harry relaxed a bit. 

“Right, well, I’ll be in the garden,” Harry said before he turned tail and left the room. 

“Don’t worry about it, kid needs time. You stop being an idiot and you’ll find yourself with an attentive nephew,” Logan grunted out as he skinned the last of the hares in his efficient way. Remus grinned at the man’s comforting words before he pulled out a large pot he had found while cleaning earlier and filled it with water from the sink. Incredibly happy that magic made one not have to worry about the condition of the pipes, Remus set the full pot of water on the stove and set it to begin heating the water to boiling. While he helped Logan cut the rabbits into chunks and season them, Harry was in the garden using his powers to clear the unwanted plants and bring in and encourage growth in vegetable, herb, and a few fruit bearing plants. Just as Remus was dropping all the hare bits into the water, Harry came back in with basket filled to the brim with vegetables and herbs.

“Where’d you find those?” Remus asked as Harry sat it down on the counter by the stove to which Harry simply smirked before gesturing outside. 

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A routine had been set over the couple weeks that the trio had been in their new home. In the morning Logan and Harry would wake early to train as they had grown accustomed before Harry would gather some fruit form the garden and get started on breakfast. Remus would stumble in the kitchen following the smell of food and the strong dark coffee Logan brewed. The trio would eat in silence and Logan would leave to chop wood, hunt, and otherwise busy himself outside while Remus and Harry cleaned the kitchen. Then Harry’s lessons would begin. Overall, Harry knew a lot about the war, blood status, Light vs Dark magic, and of course Magical Creatures/Plants. Remus spoke to Harry of the beliefs of the Light sect and the Dark sect first so he could understand the tension that still existed between the two groups. It was during one such lesson that a beautiful snowy white owl entered the open kitchen window to land on the table before the duo. 

“Hi beautiful, aren’t you just the prettiest owl and so intelligent too aren’t you?” Harry cooed to Remus’s amusement. While Harry sweet talked the bird, Remus untied the letter on its leg and opened it as it was addressed to Harry and his guardians. 

My Sweet Harry,

I am sorry if it has been longer than expected for me to reach out to you and I hope this time has not brought about doubts to my pursuit of you. Knowing that you still had much to learn on our world, I assumed that you were undergoing tutoring of some sort. With that thought in mind, I decided to give you time to focus on such studies. However, now that time has passed I am sending this letter to ensure you are aware that I intend to have you. You are exactly what our world needs to be dragged out of this pit of bigotry and despair that has us stagnating until our eventual destruction. While that power is indeed attractive, it is also your fiery personality and beauty that has me coming back for more. It would be my pleasure if you would accompany me to a summer soiree at the Malfoy’s next week. Send your reply with your new snowy owl at your earliest convenience.

Your beau,

Heir Blaise Zabini

“Harry, while I know the owl is quite beautiful, you might want to read this. It seems that Heir Zabini has written to you to reaffirm his pursuit and invite you to a party for a second date of sorts,” Remus said handing the letter over and getting some leftover meat from breakfast for the beautiful owl. Watching the emotions play on Harry’s face, Remus fed the owl and waited for Harry to be ready to talk about the letter, the owl, or any other concerns.

“Okay, this seems like an infatuation with power more than anything else on his part. Still I don’t mind giving him a chance to prove my first impression of him is false. I think you, I, and Dad should discuss this together. I’ll go get Dad,” Harry said, setting the letter on the table before leaving to find his father. Returning the trio discussed the letter, Blaise’s intentions, the impact of attending/not attending, and what this impact/power that Blaise mentioned could be. Their discussion included the intended etiquette required of such a gathering, the need for both Logan and Remus to attend, and a name for his new snowy owl. Once everything was decided, Remus helped Harry pen a letter accepting his invitation.

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Harry and Logan refused to wear wizarding robes regardless of the expectations. Instead Logan wore tight black jeans, thick combat boots, a fitted white shirt and a grey leather jacket. Harry wore fitted brown pants, a cream-colored poet’s shirt and a green vest that matched his eyes. Remus wore his fanciest robes, which were a brown in color. The trio held onto the official invitation that was sent when Harry confirmed his intention to attend the gathering and waited for it to activate. Swept along with the portkey as it moved through time and space the trio landed hard on the cobblestone in front of an ivy-covered gazebo. Before they could become unsure of their unfamiliar surroundings, Blaise Zabini appeared in front of them with a pearly white smile on his face and deep purple robes covering his fit body. 

“Welcome to the back garden of Malfoy Manor; due to my close friendship with Draco, he and Lady Malfoy allowed your portkey to land here where I thought you might feel more comfortable and be allowed a moment before entering the soiree. I am glad you decided to attend on my arm Harry, it is a great honor that I get to show you off,” Blaise said his smile settling into a smirk at the end. 

“While we appreciate the thoughtfulness of you arranging the portkey for this location rather than some stuffy receiving room, I do not like that you are referring to me as some prize or show pony,” Harry replied, his eyes narrowed on Blaise who now had an indifferent, cold look in response to Harry’s words.

“I did not intend to reduce your worth to that of a show pony or claim you as a prize,” Blaise said bitingly before he cleared his throat, “Come, let’s get to the party and have a good time. Mr. Logan and Mr. Lupin please join us.” Holding his arm out, Blaise raised a brow and narrowed his eyes until Harry took the proffered arm upon which Blaise simply smiled and tugged Harry beside him toward the stone steps to the balcony of no doubt a ballroom from the music wafting through the open doors. Logan stayed back, observing the boy who was trying to claim his son. Out of the corner of his eye, Logan saw that Lupin too was observing but he also appeared very uncomfortable as they entered the ballroom. The two men found a corner and stayed there allowing the magically floating platters of drinks and hors d’oeuvres to bring them what they needed. Nothing was said between the two men as they continued to observe. Meanwhile Harry was being led around by Blaise and introduced to his friends, future business partners, and acquaintances. 

“Ah, Mr. Potter, I do hope you are enjoying my little get-together,” Lady Malfoy said as she approached the couple, a smile on her aristocratic face and her blonde locks pulled back in an elaborate up-do, “I am so glad that you decided to join us on young Blaise’s arm.” Harry had a fixed smile in place that nearly cracked as that was the tenth time at least that someone had commented on him being on Blaise’s arm. 

“He does look good on my arm, doesn’t he?” Blaise asked rhetorically, his arm tightening around Harry as though in warning to not comment. “It was my luck to scoop him up before someone else realized just what a treasure he can be, after all it isn’t every day that the uneducated, untied soon-to-be Lord to and Ancient and Noble house just falls for you.”

“Well, I would be careful before some other young man or lady steals him from off your arm,” she replied with a smirk and calculating grey eyes. “After all any can vie for him and if they go through his guardian then their claim could even be more legitimate than yours.” Taking a champagne glass from a platter floating past, Lady Malfoy took a sip and surveyed the room. “Well I have other guests to great, do enjoy yourselves.” With a fixed smile and a possessive grip, Blaise pulled Harry away in a different direction than Lady Malfoy.

Logan watched as Harry made circuits through the room with the Zabini kid, he noticed the possessive behavior and false smiles. He saw that Harry was tense and as he was pulled along in the opposite direction of Blondie’s mother, he saw Harry hissing something at the Zabini brat. As he prepared to go save Harry from the brat, a mocha-skinned beauty in a flowing silver dress sidled up to the two men. She said nothing for some time, simply sipping at her glass of champagne. Watching her out of the corner of his eye, Logan waited for her to start whatever conversation she wanted to have. All the while he watched as Harry pretended to be having fun until he was pulled to the dance floor. Every time he caught sight of Harry, Logan studied his movements to determine his level of discomfort.

“They look good together no?” the woman asked, her eyes on Harry dancing with the Zabini brat. Logan didn’t reply to the question as he assumed the woman was the mother of the brat dancing with his son right now and he figured offending her was against their code. “I just know my Blaise will secure the position of Lord Potter and with his own title alongside, he will be powerful politically.”

“So this is all a political maneuver; Heir Zabini doesn’t care for Harry as a person?” Remus asked turning to Lady Zabini, his face showed his uncertainty.

“Your son has a seat he cannot hold, political power he cannot wield, and no knowledge of the way things are in this world. What use he has to this world is only in who he allows to wield that power,” she replied before taking another sip from her glass. Beside her both men were giving low-level growls, their chests rumbling in their anger at the boy they cared for being used as a pawn. “Do you truly believe that a beast will be able to guide young Mr. Potter in the ways of our world? A social outcast will be able to teach him to maneuver the political climate? I think not.” With those last parting words, Lady Zabini left them. Anger clouding his vision, Logan scanned for Harry on the dance floor. Finding him on the fringe of the dance floor in what seemed to be a strained conversation with Zabini. Logan watched as Harry’s eyes flashed in anger before storming off toward his and Lupin’s location. 

“I want to leave,” Harry growled out the moment he came into range to speak to them without having to raise his voice.

“What happened, Harry? Has Heir Zabini done something?” Remus asked, wondering what the younger Zabini actually felt for Harry rather than assume his mother’s schemes are all to the pairing. 

“He,” Harry spat, “seems to see me as some trophy or show of power as he just eats up all these people’s false congratulations at securing me as his own. Apparently, having decided to allow him to court me is as good as walking down the aisle for some of these two-faced princesses and cut-throat pricks.” 

“Blaise typically isn’t like this,” came another voice that the trio had not noticed join their little corner of the room. Turning toward the voice, the trio saw the teen Logan had dubbed Blondie who Harry knew now was Draco Malfoy.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Harry drawled in his best impersonation of Severus’s distinctive snarky attitude. 

“Truly he isn’t, but his mother is very demanding in her machinations and when she saw you in the Alley things just got complicated for him regarding you,” Draco explained, his eyes pleading with Harry to understand. Harry’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the Malfoy heir. Draco Malfoy stood still and relaxed during Harry’s scrutiny, being careful to not appear dishonest in any way. 

“Even if that is true, one cannot trust someone who is swayed by the machinations of others,” Harry said, his eyes narrowed, “In fact; it seemed your own mother hinted at her own ambitions towards me.”

“That may be, however we have seen how well you traverse an unknown situation. You are not so easy to manipulate and we owe you a debt for not following the Weasels and having us thrown in Azkaban. I have every reason to hate you; you are the reason that my father is dead after all, however I have to respect you,” Draco replied, “Perhaps even if we would like to get close to you to take advantage of the political power that could be wielded through you, we don’t believe that you would allow it. Considering your reaction to Blaise, I believe our belief is much closer to truth than whatever one is floating around in Lady Zabini’s head.” A deep frown was set on Harry’s face as he thought about Draco Malfoy’s words. Unbeknownst to him, Remus was similarly considering Draco’s words along with the words that had been tossed at them by Lady Zabini earlier.

“If you wish to repay that debt, perhaps you would be willing to ally yourself with Harry. Help him traverse through the pureblood circles and ensure he will not be easily manipulated,” Remus said slowly, watching Draco Malfoy’s expressions as he did, “Do this Heir Malfoy with no ulterior motive and we will consider your debt paid, your debt only.”


	9. Chapter Nine: Alliances and Other Relationships/Train Rides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay everyone; however I have a rather busy RL and have little time to work on this but be assured I am working on it. Hopefully you like the update.

Chapter Nine: Alliances and Other Relationships/Train Rides

Harry was in the garden trying to forget the annoyances of being a ‘powerful but useless’ member of the British Wizarding World. He had been sent a letter by Zabini a few days after the Malfoy party; in it, Blaise expressed his apologies for his possessive and disrespectful behavior and apparently after a talk with the Malfoy heir had decided to stop his pursuit as his feelings were insincere. While upset that his first relationship had ended so quickly, he had to feel some respect for Zabini for admitting his hypocrisy and not continuing the charade, but at the same time he felt annoyed that any true relationship that could have formed between them had been tarnished before it could truly begin and that his worth was measured in who he allowed to use his name. A few days after that he had received a letter from Dumbledore requesting a meeting to ascertain his level of readiness for Hogwarts; he was to expect a visit any day now by Dumbledore and ‘trusted’ staff members. 

All these thoughts were swirling around in Harry’s head so much so that the environment around him had disappeared. He didn’t notice when Logan had come outside to chop wood or when Lupin settled at the base of a tree with a book. He didn’t notice when the two men tensed at a nearby cracking sound or when Dumbledore approached with his staff members. It was only Logan’s voice that broke through Harry’s thoughts.

“I would say I appreciate you visiting but that would be a lie,” Logan said gruffly, as he leaned back against the cabin with his arms crossed over his chest. Some of the staff members frowned but they all stood around Dumbledore as the man cleared his throat.

“Be that as it may, I assume you received my letter informing you of my arrival with a few members of my staff. We wished to see how young Harry, pardon Mr. Potter, is coping with all the information regarding our culture. I’m sure it is quite the information overload,” Dumbledore said gently, his tone slightly patronizing to the trio who were beginning to see through Dumbledore’s persona. 

“Right, well, we received your missive and we have been expecting you. Harry has been doing quite well with learning about Wizarding culture; it seems Severus had explained quite a lot about it during the time he stayed with them,” Remus spoke up, his posture relaxed where he was sitting against the tree. 

“That is rather convenient for you, isn’t it Remus? However, I’m sure that education did not include the dangers of associating with Dark families or the media; which, I’m not sure if you are aware, but young Mr. Potter has been the middle of quite the controversy for his recent choices,” Dumbledore said gravely, pulling out a folded newspaper out of an inner pocket on his robes. Taking the paper from Dumbledore suspiciously, Harry opened it and saw it said ‘Daily Prophet’ in large flowing script. Assuming that was the paper’s name, Harry noticed a moving picture of himself and Blaise dancing at the Malfoy soiree. The headline above the picture said ‘Our Savior and His Dark Desires’ by someone named Rita Skeeter.

Our Savior and His Dark Desires  
By Rita Skeeter

We are all aware that our Savior has returned to the Wizarding World after his near sixteen year absence. During that time, our Savior, Harry Potter: was harshly abused, as found out from the investigation into his disappearance from his relatives; lost his magic, as confirmed by various magical artifacts and of great interest to the Unspeakables; developed mutant powers, which has been confirmed as classifying as a magical being by the Goblins; defeated You-Know-You; and has finally returned to Our World with his mutant father-figure. However, even with all we know about our Savior, there are still a multitude of questions. What has his life been like after leaving his relatives? What does it mean to be a ‘mutant’ and what are his powers? Just how was You-Know-Who defeated? What does he know of Our World? Where do his sympathies lie in the tension between Light and Dark? And most importantly, what will become of the Potter Legacy?

Well, my dear readers, allow me to answer some of these questions that are swirling through all of our heads of late. First off, I was able to determine through access to Ministry records that are open-to-public viewing that our Savior grew up with a wild, gruff man who simply goes by the name Logan. Whether that is a given name or surname I am unsure; however, what is known is that the man is a bachelor for all those witches who like the wild type. This man took our Savior in when he was left for dead by his muggle Uncle in the Canadian wilderness. For what purpose, we can only speculate, but even if it was well-intentioned it did not help our Savior learn about his role in Our World or his origins. Our esteemed Headmaster Albus Dumbledore said in his interview that young Mr. Potter had only learned about his origins when the late Potions Master Severus Snape and soon-to-be History Professor Remus Lupin were able to track him down in an out-of-the-way motel. The Headmaster actually said, “Young Mister Potter was very startled when we first found him and quite shy, most probably from little social contact. The poor child seemed uncertain if he should speak with us, looking to Mr. Logan for guidance; although, I am uncertain if the gruff man should have had such control over the boy.” 

It is worrisome to find that Our Savior was afraid of his own adoring people, such unease was apparent during his time in Diagon Alley. Another thing that was apparent was his ignorance of the culture of the Wizarding World as well as the dangers. During his time in the Alley, Harry Potter was accosted by Heir Malfoy in Madame Malkins’ shop although no charges were brought forward on the behest of Mr. Potter himself. Madame Malkin herself stated that while there was an altercation, no harm was done due to Mr. Potter’s healing factor. Still, the question is raised: Why would Our Savior vouch for a known Dark family whose Patriarch is a known deceased Deatheater who was present at the final battle? If it were only this case, then some might cry mercy as Our Savior is naïve of our culture and the strife that still permeates this great society. But alas, no, Our Savior did not stop his unsavory associations after leaving Madam Malkins. For you see, Heir Blaise Zabini, son of the notorious Black Widow and vaulted Playboy of Hogwarts has entered an informal courtship with Our Savior after literally running into him at Diagon Alley. Now perhaps young Mr. Potter does not realize the extent of control and influence that would be gained by Heir Zabini if this courtship manifests into a marriage bond; perhaps without the proper guiding influence, Our Savior was hoodwinked by Heir Zabini. Or perhaps, Our Savior is overly fond of those of a Darker nature. In fact, many witnesses recounted an argument between Harry Potter and Our esteemed Headmaster Dumbledore in which Mr. Potter refused Dumbledore’s help toward living arrangements or even a tutor to learn of Our World; instead choosing Known Werewolf Remus Lupin to be his live-in tutor. Furthermore, as seen above, Harry Potter attended the Annual Malfoy Summer Soiree on the arm of Heir Blaise Zabini where he was surrounded by known Dark families or Dark supporters in what many consider loosely veiled pro-Dark gatherings. What should we make of all this?

Should we be concerned with Our Savior’s seemingly Dark leanings? Yes, my dear readers, we should. Harry Potter is the only heir of one of the oldest Magical families of Wizarding Britain that has lucrative investments throughout the world. In fact, an anonymous source in Gringotts insinuated that the Potter’s could have single-handedly bolstered or destroyed Wizarding Britain’s economy. However, as explained by sources in the Ministry only Wizards or Witches with no Magical Being or Creature status can serve on the Wizengomot as such Mr. Potter can never claim the Potter seats. In addition, while able to use the monetary portion of the Potter Legacy, there is vast magical knowledge that is wasted on Our Savior’s magicless status. Who then shall wield this power? One can hope that it will be someone allowed such liberties will be in the best interest of Wizarding Britain; someone who will lead us to a brighter future; someone who has held his ground against the wrongs of Our World. Do we know someone who can fill these grand standards my dear readers? Perhaps we do, but I certainly don’t believe it is any of the individuals that Our Savior is currently surrounding himself with. For now, we can only wait and see whether as my anonymous source claimed whether Potter will uplift or destroy us.

For more on Harry Potter’s childhood see page 2

For more on Mutants see page 4

For more on the Potter Legacy see page 5

Harry blinked once after he finished reading the article intently, then for good measure he flipped through to the associated articles. All the articles had embellishment that insinuated against his character if not flat out calling him untrustworthy. There were some rather personal and quite frankly unsettling information always from anonymous sources. Finally, after intense scrutiny, Harry placed the paper down to see the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore, frowning face of Remus and the ‘trusted’ faculty and raised brow of his father. Finally, turning his attention to Remus who was standing to the side of him Harry asked, “Are there solicitors in the Wizarding World? This article is invasion of privacy and libel at the least; isn’t that lawsuit worthy? Do you people believe yourself above laws?” 

“Now Harry, er I mean Mr. Potter, I think you are being rather harsh; after all, it is simply a newspaper article,” Dumbledore said gently, his twinkle diminished as a momentary panic crossed his features at Harry’s response.

“No, you said I have been in the middle of a controversy due to associating with Dark families; that means that this article had an effect on my character at large not to mention all the personal information that I did not authorize release of that is littered throughout this publication,” Harry said in a soft, hard tone his narrowed glowing green eyes piercing Dumbledore’s person. The Hogwarts’ faculty behind him shifted in nervousness and some even showed thoughtfulness and concern at his pronouncement. 

“I know of one solicitor that would probably at least see you considering your non-Wizard status; in fact, she is related to you through your late Godfather even if she was disowned,” Remus spoke up, keeping his attention solely on Harry even though he knew Dumbledore and some of his staff were staring at him in disapproval.

“Great write, er owl her or whatever is the best way to reach her,” Harry said, and when Remus didn’t move, “Now Remus.” Remus blinked and smirked a bit at Harry’s impatience before he nodded and rose fluidly to head to the cabin and do as he was told by his pseudo-nephew. Logan chuckled at the incredulous look on some of the adults faces. 

“I do believe that you are making a bigger deal out of this than is strictly necessary,” Albus said in a deep-suffering tone as though speaking to a child throwing a tantrum. 

“Well I believe that my privacy is important; while you may think a person’s life to be open to the public simply because they defeated some Dark Lord that an entire nation of adults seemingly couldn’t that doesn’t mean I have to feel the same,” Harry said calmly with a raised brow.

“That is the price of fame,” Albus replied with a small smile and his signature twinkle. Harry simply raised his other brow in surprise.

“No, that is called ‘invasion of privacy’,” Harry said slowly as though he were speaking to someone incredibly slow, “Being famous is no reason for the media to be allowed access to private matters or documents nor is it a reason to allow such blatant disrespect.”

“Well said Mr. Potter,” a new voice spoke up. Everyone turned to see an older woman in deep blue robes standing next to Remus. “Allow me to introduce yourself since no one seems to be inclined to do so, I am Andromeda Tonks nee Black, a solicitor both in the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.” Remus blushed red as Solicitor Tonks jabbed him softly in the side to indicate who should have been introducing her before she scanned the assembled group. “While I know the Wizards in attendance, recognize yourself Mr. Potter from the paper, and can assume Mr. Gruff and Growly over there is the mysterious Logan; I do believe introductions are in order. I wonder if the illustrious Hogwarts representatives even bothered to introduce themselves before your character attack was shoved into your face.” The shifting and reddening faces gave away what Andromeda already knew, introductions were not made.

“Ah, of course,” Dumbledore said stiltedly, before he cleared his throat and began his introductions. “I have brought with me my House Heads, Transfiguration Mistress Minerva McGonagall Head of Gryffindor House,” he motioned to a rather stern looking woman wearing emerald green and tartan robes with her greying hair pulled into a severe bun, “Charms Master Filius Flitwick Head of Ravenclaw House,” he motioned to a short cheerful looking man who reminded Harry of the goblins of Gringotts, “Herbology Mistress Pomona Sprout Head of Hufflepuff House,” he motioned to a short, squat woman who was too busy eyeing the garden around them to pay attention to the proceedings, “and Potions Master Horace Slughorn Head of Slytherin House.” Harry eyed the four who were introduced and allowed his eyes to shift toward the couple other faculty who were standing awaiting their own introductions. 

“I’m Auror Nymphadora Tonks, although only my parents call me Nymphadora, anyone else who tries is immediately hexed,” a woman with bright bubblegum pink hair said when Dumbledore seemed to take a long pause before continuing his introductions, “I’m the current Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor!” Harry smiled and shook the young woman’s hand as she had offered it after her introduction, being the only one to do so in the Hogwarts group. He blinked in astonishment when her hair changed to match his own before going back to its bubble gum pink color and previous style. “Love your hair by the way!” Glancing over at Solicitor Tonks, he saw her fondly shaking her head at Auror Tonks’ behavior giving credence to his new solicitor being the mother of the bubbly woman. 

“And this is our resident Librarian Irma Pince,” Dumbledore continued with a strained smile. The woman indicated was a rather sour, thin looking woman. 

“Well I guess I should introduce us too in spirit of politeness and all that,” Harry said causing Auror Tonks, Logan, and Remus to chuckle slightly, “I’m Harry Potter, this is my father Logan, my Wizarding Guide and pseudo-uncle Remus Lupin, and my new solicitor Andromeda Tonks although she did just introduce herself.” 

“Now that that is out of the way, can we get to what this meeting is about? While I’m sure bringing to our attention the invasion of privacy and libel brought forth in the Daily Profit is appreciated, I’m sure that is not the purpose of this meeting with all these acclaimed Hogwarts staff present,” Solicitor Tonks spoke up immediately taking up the mantle of Harry Potter’s council and representative. 

“We have come to ascertain the readiness of Harry Potter for Hogwarts attendance,” Dumbledore said shortly, his stiff body the only sign of his displeasure. 

“How do you intend to do that exactly?” Solicitor Tonks asked, her eyebrow raised in question and her eyes showing her derision toward the Headmaster. Remus stood straighter at the question turning his amber eyes on the Headmaster wondering exactly what he had planned.

“We each were going to give a verbal exam of sorts to determine which classes he should be placed in if any and determine whether he was mentally and emotionally ready for Hogwarts attendance,” McGonagall spoke up quickly, hoping to be able to get on with their meeting so she could get back to her multitude of other responsibilities. 

“Well then, by all means, start your examinations,” Solicitor Tonks said with a smirk as she stared squarely at the Hogwarts staff. As expected, Auror Tonks bounced forward to begin.

“Hey there, while you won’t be able to attend my course since you know you can’t use magic and all, I’m supposed to ensure you are physically able to not only maneuver the castle but dodge any stray curses, hexes, etcetera,” Auror Tonks said with an eye roll conveying how stupid she thought that to be, “So how far can you run before not being able to run anymore?”

“Full out or paced running?” Harry asked in return.

“Both?” Auror Tonks replied with a careless shrug.

“Full out I can run about 200 meters at a full sprint but when it comes to how far can I run; I can run about 350 miles over the course of 80 hours and some change before I have to stop for sleep,” Harry said with a shrug at the wide-eyed amazement.

“Okay superman, how are your dodging skills?” Auror Tonks asked in awe.

“Well when Severus was alive, he had me dodging constant spell fire being cast from both hands for ten minutes at a time and would do ambush attacks so that I could hone my senses to dodge spell fire even if I wasn’t expecting it,” Harry said eyes downcast and voice slightly emotional. Logan walked over to Harry and laid a hand on his head, caressing the hair on his crown in comfort. There were a few noises of sympathy from the other faculty members while Logan ensured Harry did not fall back into his memories.

“Alrighty then, you’re definitely physically ready for Hogwarts! Maybe we can train together sometime; you could teach me a thing or two!” Tonks said with a wink before returning to the middle of the Hogwarts group. The transfiguration and charms professors mainly asked him about his understanding of their culture so far and about his interactions with the few peers he had met so far. While they believed he still had a lot to learn regarding social skills and the Wizarding culture, they determined he knew enough to be able to navigate the Hogwarts social webs. Potions Master Slughorn quizzed him on his potions knowledge which was extensive thanks to living years with potions prodigy Seveus Snape. However, even though he had extensive knowledge he had little ability to brew due to his lack of magic. As such Slughorn determined that Harry should help tutor students that were struggling and could sit in classes to watch out for mistakes. Finally it was Pomona Sprout’s turn to quiz the young Potter.

“This is quite a garden,” Professor Sprout said when she finally brought her attention away from the plants to address the young man whom they were all there to see.

“Thank you, it is solely my domain,” Harry said with a glow in his eyes and a secretive smirk on his face. 

“Is that so? Do you do something special or ask Remus to use spells? Some of these plants do not even grow in this region,” Sprout said eyeing a banana tree specifically as well as a coffee tree. 

“What can I say, it’s a gift,” Harry said with a big smile and refused to say more on that subject. What followed was a lively talk about plants their best environments, what magical plants he knew, and overall how he saw plants in the grand scheme of things. Pomona Sprout was ecstatic having found another student, outside of Neville Longbottom, who appreciated plants as much as she herself. It was decided that he would attend class with the other seventh years and had an open invitation to the greenhouses whenever he saw fit. With all the professors having had their question and answer session, all eyes turned to Albus Dumbledore to determine whatever it was he was to determine.

“Well it seems we will be seeing you September first Mr. Potter, have a good day,” Dumbledore said with a smile although his body was still somewhat tense before he began to usher his faculty away so they could all disapparate. Once they were gone, Solicitor Tonks was invited to join them for an early dinner as it was nearing that time to which she graciously accepted. So the group of four sat at the table with roasted meat, steamed seasoned veggies, and fresh buttered rolls. The group ate happily, small talk allowing them to get to know one another, until dinner was devoured.

“Do you wish to take Daily Prophet to court regarding the article?” Andromeda asks Logan and Harry. 

“Yes if only to show that we’re serious regarding my position; however after pressing for the full charges we can settle for full disclosure of who their anonymous sources are, a public apology say on the steps of Gringotts bank, and a front page apology article stating the terms of their writing on public figures lest they find themselves shut down,” Harry responds with a mischievous gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his face. Andromeda raises a brow, both in surprise at his rather thought out plan but also in how this plan does not just protect him but others who may have been targeted by the paper. There was just one part of this plan that made her curious.

“Just how do you plan to shut them down if they do not comply? While the monetary damages would be devastating the paper is regularly funded not only by its patrons but also the ministry coffers as well, I doubt that court battles alone would do it,” Andromeda asks, after all there is a reason the paper has gotten such leeway. 

“Part of that economic impact the paper hinted at the Potter Legacy having is having stock in many of the companies that operate in Diagon Alley as well as many parent corporations that supply everything from ingredients to scholarship funds. The Potters own 60% stock in not only the Daily Prophet, but also Witches Weekly, Transfiguration Times, and Potions Past and Future. While not as wealthy as the Malfoys, purposefully destroying the Daily Prophet would not hurt the Potter wealth,” Harry remarked nonchalantly. A slow smirk crossed Andromeda’s face as she finally saw where the Daily Prophet would be reined in from their devil-may-care ways. Finalizing the plans, Andromeda left shortly with a small bounce in her step.

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Having exchanged a few letters with Draco Malfoy in an effort to actually cultivate a friendship and having penned Neville Longbottom on recommendation of Pomona Sprout, Harry felt he actually had a couple people he could presumably develop trust in. With the train ride around the corner, Harry started to grow anxious at leaving Logan behind. Therefore he spent as much time with his father as possible. Currently they were out hunting. Harry was crouched quietly in the brush listening to the forest around him tell him the location of the animals while Logan was using his nose to find them. Having found a few hares the duo made quick work of catching a few and began the trek back home. Harry was nearly touching sides with Logan as they walked. It was after the fourth shrub seemed to sprout up and trip Logan slowing their progress that Logan decided enough was enough.

“Listen kid, you don’t have to do this if you don’t wanna,” Logan said in a grumble, his face showing annoyance as he pulled the shrub from his feet. 

“I know, but although Draco seems okay, I don’t know if I want to give up that money just because it’s going to be aggravating. It would make life a lot easier on us,” Harry said with a heavy sigh. 

“Then deal kid,” Logan said gruffly, “and no more shrubs in our way or I’ll slice you up and we both know that shit’ll hurt even if you heal up.” Laughing Harry agreed as they made their way home. Soon enough Harry was standing in front of a scarlet engine train with Remus, Logan having opted to avoid the crowds and not see him off. He held himself stiffly scanning the rather meager crowds considering the quite early time before the train’s scheduled departure at 11 AM. Both Neville and Draco had agreed to meet with him and give him a low-down on the school structure from a student’s perspective. Not seeing a ‘you would definitely notice it’ vulture hat or the platinum blond hair, Harry decided to pass the time by continuing the conversation with Remus about the Wizarding World’s views on non-Wizards.

“So why is it that magical beings and creatures are looked on as inferior to wizards when they are literally made of magic or closer to magic then wizards, who are simply magic-gifted humans?” Harry asked, still having trouble logically understanding this when if anything wizards should be lower status to him.

“That is hard to answer; some of it is fear, some of it is envy, and equal parts are unknown,” Remus said with a heavy sigh considering his own experiences with wizards.

“Or you could just say that the majority rules and wizards are by far the majority in terms of population over magical beings and creatures even if we are not the strongest,” came the light, controlled voice of Lady Malfoy who in their inattention had come up behind them with Draco trailing behind her. Swiveling around in surprise, Harry came face to face with the aristocratic blonde who had subtly threatened Blaise at the soiree just a few weeks back. Thinking of this caused a frown to appear as Harry considered that he would not only be seeing Blaise again but would probably have to interact with him considering their mutual ‘friendship’ with Draco. It seemed that Lady Malfoy took the frown as discontent with her words for she continued, “Of course with our numbers we have been able to overwhelm the other magical races in the many wars that occurred when Wizards vied for power and as such came out victorious; there is that saying in the muggle world, ‘History is written by the victors’ or something to that effect.”

“’History is written by the victor’ is a quote commonly attributed to Winston Churchill although there is debate regarding whether he actually said it or not; I feel the better quote is the Ethiopian statesmen Haile Selassie’s ‘Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph,’” Harry said with a blank face, although he watched Lady Malfoy carefully for any reaction to his words. Her face was fixed in vaguely polite mask, her eyes were guarded, and her body nonchalant but not relaxed as it might be if she were in a comfortable setting. Beside her Draco stood stiffly, watching the conversation unfold while Remus stood behind Harry slightly fidgeting in nervous uncertainty.

“Ah, but the belief in good and evil is rather naïve, don’t you think?” Lady Malfoy said with a patronizing smile on her face. 

“No, I believe that labelling an entire group, entity, or type of thing as good or evil is naïve but that there are good and evil individuals even if they themselves do not see themselves as such. I do believe that it is in the actions of those around these individuals that dictate the damage they are capable of inflicting upon society; unfortunately, all too often are these people ignored for those who portray more ‘evil’ characteristics openly while they hide behind masks of congeniality,” Harry replied with a smile on his face that seemed to just throw Lady Malfoy’s words back on her without showing any intention to do just that. 

“Well said, Mr. Potter,” said a cultured, no-nonsense voice from behind and to the right of him. Twisting enough to see the new person or people in their group, Harry saw a tall, sharp looking woman wearing a rather large, ostentatious, ‘you would definitely notice it’ vulture hat and a tall, sandy-blonde haired teen wearing black robes trimmed in red and gold. Noticing his perusal, the woman introduced herself, “Augusta Longbottom, reagent to the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom. This is my grandson and Heir to the Longbottom name, Neville Longbottom.”

“Hello, it’s great to finally have a face to put with the personality since I can’t very well say I have a voice since we have only spoken through letters,” Harry said with a chuckle, before he remembered himself when Remus cleared his throat, “Oh, right, I’m Harry Potter of the Ancient and Noble Potter family, heir to the monetary legacy but none of the political due to the great laws of Wizarding Britain. This is my mentor and pseudo-uncle Remus Lupin.” The group chatted a bit more before deciding to board the train before the platform became too crowded with curious young wizards and witches. Finding a spot in the middle of the train so as to not be too entrenched in any House territory, the group settled in a semi-comfortable silence. Harry was playing Wizarding chess with Draco while Neville and Remus read books when the compartment door slid open.

“There you are Draco Lucius Malfoy! Why didn’t you bother to inform us that you were sitting in a different compartment, some friend you are,” a pug-faced girl whined as she flung herself into a seat next to Draco. The others in the group were frozen in the doorway eyeing the other occupants of the compartment warily. Most of all was an ashen-faced Blaise Zabini who was eyeing Harry with uncertainty and a bit of guilt. Draco was similarly frozen uncertain as to how to react and not thinking over the awkwardness of this meeting.

“Do come in Blaise and associated friends, the more the merrier,” Harry said with a small smile, trying to be friendly and relieve the tension. Giving a fixed smile, Blaise moved into the compartment and sat stiffly on the seat occupied with Draco and the pug-faced girl. The group settled into an uneasy silence. “Draco, Blaise, is either of you going to introduce your friends? Or have you forgotten that I don’t know the who’s who of Wizarding society?” Introductions were made and he found that the pug-faced girl was Pansy Parkinson, there was a gorilla-looking boy named Vincent Crabbe and another named Gregory Goyle, and a bookish boy named Theodore Nott. While the compartment was a bit crowded and still tense, over time the group was able to find things in common and learn to relax a bit around one another. Of course just as the tension was bleeding out of the room, something had to bring down their combined spirits and that something was Ronald Weasley.

“What do we have here? A bunch of slimy Slytherins, a should-have-been Hufflepuff duffer, and a disappointment to the Potter Legacy,” Ronald Weasley said with an ugly sneer on his face. 

“Hey can one of you take care of the nuisance,” Harry said without looking up from the chess board, concentrating on his next move against Draco. 

“Want us to do your dirty work for you Harry?” Draco drawled with laughter in his eyes, knowing that Harry wanted someone to ask exactly that question. He was also amused at the scowls on the other Slytherins’ faces at his flippant request as they didn’t know Harry’s ploy. 

“Well unless you want the little asswipe to leave in a body bag instead of just spending a justly earned visit in the hospital wing; plus, I’m not quite sure if expulsion and a possible prison sentence qualifies for the terms of earning my money,” Harry said, still not looking up from the chess board.

“Oh please, what is a magicless little freak like you going to do to wizard like me,” Weasley scoffed before his eyes widened in fear as in what seemed a blink of an eye Harry was in front of him with is hand around his neck and his wand hand in a crushing grip. 

“You were saying?” Harry asked in an overly chipper voice, “Now listen closely and maybe I won’t break you hand and literally drop kick you out of this compartment. You will leave and you will not come near us for the rest of the train ride at least. You will learn to shut your mouth around me or you will lose your tongue. Now I’m going to let go of you and you are going to leave, understood?” Ron nodded frantically, her face slightly purple and his eyes bulging in fear. As soon as Harry released him, Ron booked it from the compartment and Harry went back to the chess board and made his move, “Check mate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry response for his sprint was based on what I read about famous Olympic sprinters and their full-speed capabilities and his response for his paced-run is based on Dean Karnazes 350 miles run in 80 hours of no-sleep in 2005.


End file.
